


내 마음속에 저장

by daelighthwi



Series: The Adventures of PD101S2 [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band), 새싹즈 | Yuehua Sprouts | YHNEXT
Genre: M/M, chapter 6 is a mistake in my eyes, i dont think he's going to appear anymore, in all honesty, jinseob centric, like jihoon so far he's only mentioned like once, neither will hyunbin, not sweet cinnamon roll daehwi, ongniel will probably only come out in the epilogue, ooc daehwi, or much of a story, so in this he's only a sweet honey bunch sugar plum pumpy umpy umpkins with muel, some characters are just name dropped they dont have backstories, the savage one is jisung or jaehwan, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-11-22 09:50:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 41,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11377713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daelighthwi/pseuds/daelighthwi
Summary: The only hope the kingdom has rests with a very beautiful witch, a very loud prince, a clumsy thief and a fairy that likes to set things on fire.As Park Woojin is shoved into a jail cell for the third time in his life, he briefly wonders how he got himself into this situation.Right.Ahn Hyungseob.





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> tbh this was birthed on a whim so please excuse me
> 
> also i don't dare to ask anyone i know to read my works so it's definitely not beta read. 
> 
> enjoy! oh, and please leave comments!! I love reading them and I will definitely reply to your comments (unless idk how to respond but that's usually after I've replied once or twice)

"I swear I didn't steal it!" A few heads snap around to the centre of the town square where a few palace guards are engaged in a tussle with a scraggly boy with red hair. "It was the guy with the hood I promise-"

The palace guard grabs the boy's collar and shakes it. "Yeah, right. I'm giving you one chance to confess or I'm taking you straight to Prince Hyungseob and he's not going to be very lenient on you."

The words die in Park Woojin's throat and he swallows in fear. He immediately adopts a shy stance, shoulders hunching as he curls into himself in an attempt to look smaller. "I have something to say." He whispers a few words, voice intentionally light and barely carrying over to the guards. The guard holding him blinks in confusion.

Leaning in closer, he asks him to repeat himself. "I said... _go fuck yourself!_ " Woojin promptly shoves the heel of his hand into the guard's face and kicks another in the groin. He breaks free from the circle of guards and flees, only stumbling over his feet once, which, by the way, is the least number of times he's actually tripped while running away. It's actually not the first time that he's gotten into such sticky situations. To say the least, it's surprising that he's made it so far as a thief. Park Woojin, the clumsiest boy in the kingdom, also one of the best thieves, mainly due to his trickery and less of his two left feet. They're not very helpful when it comes to stealth. He's already had to run away after being discovered after setting a stall on fire, setting the item on fire, even setting his target on fire.

There was also that minor incident where he set the palace guard on fire and escaped. That too.

While managing to break away from the guards, he'd also managed to create a large enough distraction to deftly purloin a pink coin pouch from the pocket of a guard whose family was well-known for their pig farm. Pulling out the pouch from under his sleeve, Woojin slowly inspects it. The initials "A.H.S" are embroidered on one side, and it smells faintly of flowers, and maybe, Euiwoong.

He sinks down into a seat in a random cafe he happened to run into and sighs. He didn't need or want to steal this object, but Euiwoong wanted it. Not that he'd ever admit it, but Woojin is super Whipped™ for his best friend of two years.

Said friend was currently speedwalking towards him, having mysteriously known of Woojin's whereabouts a few seconds after he's settled down. "Did you get me what I wanted?" Euiwoong questions, twirling his fringe with his index finger. When Woojin doesn't reply and instead stares blankly at him, his lower lips juts out in a pout. "You know, the pink coin pouch that the palace guard with the pet pigs always carries?" Woojin stretches out his left hand, the aforementioned pink pouch clutched firmly in his grasp. Euiwoong begins to clap happily in his seat and stretches out a pale hand to grab at the coin pouch. "Thanks Woojinnie! I'll repay you one day!" 

Park Woojin hums noncommittally. He's not too sure how Euiwoong, as mysterious and stealthy as he is, is ever going to repay him one day, but it's the thought that counts. 

He continues to scrutinise Euiwoong's face. Although he claims to work as a guard in the palace, he definitely does not look like one. His arms are twig-like, and Woojin does not think that it would require too much strength to snap them in two (not that he would want to). His fingers, which are eagerly pulling at the strings of the drawstring pouch to open them, have no calluses on them and when Euiwoong pulls out a few coins from the pouch and drops them into Woojin's palm, their fingers touch and he tries very hard not to die inside at the softness of Euiwoong's skin.

He fails, just a little bit.

 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

 

Hyungseob doesn't mean to lie to Woojin like this. He really doesn't.

He quite fancies Woojin's company and the boy's obliviousness to his royalty, and the rough manner he is usually addressed is a welcome change from the usual delicacy he is treated with. There's only so much of the stiff smiles and poorly concealed jealousy that he can take throughout his entire lifetime.

It's always  _Your Highness, you can't do this_ or  _Your Highness, you're supposed to..._ and Hyungseob is honestly so sick of rules and listening to them.

So when he meets Woojin, and Woojin doesn't treat him with respect (he'd actually punched Hyungseob in the face but they don't speak of it), Hyungseob nearly cries at the break this refreshing change. He actually wants to keep Woojin around for a long, long time.

When Woojin asks for his name, his head is thrown into a frenzy. Can he tell Woojin his real name? Will he recognise the name? More importantly, will he run away after finding out that he's the Prince? He doesn't want to take any chances.

"Euiwoong," he says instead, "My name is Euiwoong." His servant (read: companion) will forgive him later. He watches Woojin fumble with pronouncing the name, as most people do. "You call call me Woong, on one condition." An impish smile appears on his face, and it feels really good to be mischievous, to let loose around someone. "I'll call you Woojinnie!" 

Him sneaking out of the palace was usually to take quiet strolls in the village and check on the villagers, listen to gossip, sing a few songs at the village bar, and then return to his boring life in the palace for a week. But now, he sneaks out more frequently (the the chagrin of the real Euiwoong) just to see Woojin. Even the bartender at the bar can see a difference in his eyes. 

"They glitter more now," he'd said, "it's a good look on you."

"Thanks Seunghyuk." Hyungseob throws his head back and laughs. "I'm enjoying myself."

Now, as he looks at Woojin, he's filled with so much happiness and joy that he never wants this moment to end.

He lifts his head to stare out of the window and watches as Guard Joo runs past, zeroing in on Woojin and completely missing Hyungseob. Guard Joo does a doubletake. 

Guard Joo glares at Woojin and hisses a few curses.

It shatters the peaceful atmosphere he has slowly built up, calmly sitting there in Woojin's presence while rifling through his coin pouch (that Guard Joo confiscated, the _audacity_ ). Hyungseob hurriedly tugs the hood of his cloak over his head and holds it there, standing to grab at Woojin with his free arm. Woojin stares at him confusedly with a tiny head tilt. In any other situation, he would have cooed at Woojin but it's not the time for his slight infatuation on him. "Woojinnie, we have to go now-"

"Stay right there, boy!" Woojin freezes and stares at Guard Joo with growing apprehension. He stands up abruptly, moving faster than Hyungseob has ever seen. He lunges in front of Hyungseob and pushes him in the opposite direction, stubbing his hip against a chair, knocking over a row of classes, upending a table and finally pushes open a door. They escape into the bright sun hand-in-hand. 

It's kind of hot.

 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

 

One moment, Park Woojin is sharing an intimate moment with Euiwoong, the next, they're both running away from a very angry guard that looks like he's about to burst a vein chasing after the two of them.

 

 Probably just him, though. 

 

He trips over a tree root and his feet go flying under him. He tumbles to the ground and in the chaos created, Woojin's hand slips from Euiwoong's grasp. A gasp falls from his lips and as quick as the surprised expression flits across Euiwoong's face, Euiwoong has disappeared into the newly-formed crowd. Woojin finally stops rolling. Standing up, he brushes himself off and takes off again. Behind him, Guard Joo lets out a scream of exasperation and finally skids to a halt, legs kicking up dust as he gives up on the chase. Woojin mentally pumps his fist and slows down a bit. 

 

Soon, the guards are nowhere to be seen. Woojin tucks his hands into his pockets, slumps his shoulders and sighs. They'd barely spoken today before Guard Joo had discovered his theft (which, he maintains, is all because of Euiwoong). He takes this time to mull over their abnormal relationship. From whatever little background information Woojin knows of Euiwoong, his greatest wish is to be free, his parents are control freaks, and he has no siblings. The life of an only child is always lonely, and Woojin would gladly shower Euiwoong with enough love and care to make up for the absence of a companion. 

 

A hand claps onto his shoulder, startling him out of his reverie, and he turns to stare straight into the stormy eyes of Guard Joo. His usually impeccable uniform has a rip in a sleeve, along with random scuff marks against the brilliant blues of the vest; his hair is mussed and flying everywhere.  

 

"You're going straight to the dungeons!" He thunders, "I've just about had it with you! I've already given you so many chances, but you keep passing them up!" He shoots Woojin a pointed look. "Maybe a night or two or maybe a year in the dungeon cell will get rid of your kleptomania." He has Woojin in an iron grip, and without even bothering to look at Woojin, he begins to stalk off, dragging Woojin along. 

 

From Woojin's viewpoint near the ground, he can see splotches of purples and blues forming on Guard Joo's -otherwise perfect- skin and he's pretty proud of the huge bruise blossoming on the guard's chin. If he was going to go down, at least he could say that he went down fighting. 

 

When they arrive at the palace, it's to great chaos. Woojin is shoved from one guard to another, all rushing off somewhere (something about missing hung soap?) until finally, a young guard with huge eyes is blinking down at him. "I'm Woojin," he says lamely, gesturing to himself, trying to break the awkward silence in between them. 

 

"I'm Guard Lai." The Guard whispers. Woojin can't help but notice that his Korean is a tad wonky. It's quite cute, but nothing will be as cute as Euiwoong.

 

Wait. 

 

What?

 

They make their way to the dungeons in silence, until a shrill shriek shatters the serene atmosphere. Guard Lai is suddenly the most alert that he's ever seen and he dashes off, leaving Woojin standing at the entrance to the dungeon, alone and very confused. 

 

"Seonho, I'm coming!" Guard Lai yells as a response to the scream, and he rushes away to the source as fast as his legs will carry him. 

 

So Woojin is pretty disoriented. Is the palace always so messy? He slightly pities the Prince, it's definitely going to be hard to live in such a big palace with so many people but so little company. 

 

He sits there for a while, waiting for a Guard to come and escort him into his cell. An hour passes. No one comes. Woojin looks around and shrugs. Well, if no one's looking for him or expecting him to stay, he might as well take his leave. He stands, dusts himself off, and strolls out the way that he came in. 

 

He leaves unnoticed. 

 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

"Okay, I'm not helping you get anything from anywhere this time; the last time I helped you nab that coin pouch, I got thrown into the dungeons."

A whine. 

" _No,_ I'm not going to."

A pout. 

"T-that doesn't work on me." Lord have mercy on Woojin's soul. He is so weak.  _Did he just fucking stutter?_

A tear threatens to fall. 

"Oh my god, stop." Woojin throws his hands into the air. "Fine, fine. I'll get you your honey bread." He narrows his eyes at Euiwoong. "Did you forget your money again?" 

Euiwoong scratches at the nape of his neck. "I'm sorry, I was in such a rush that I forgot."  _Like every other time,_ he thinks. It's mostly fine, he muses, that he steals from these vendors. He gets Seonho, head chef Minhyun's assistant, to drop off a few extra coins to pay them back when he makes his rounds. 

On their way to the quaint little bakery, Woojin and Euiwoong engage in small talk. They talk about everything, from Woojin's snaggletooth to the forest on the edge of the village. 

"Rumour is, a witch resides in the forest. She'll use her feminine wiles to lure you in and then eat your brain!" Euiwoong's eyes widen as he speaks, arms moving around wildly as he smacks a hand into Woojin's face. He winces and bats the arm away. 

"Well, I heard that there were fairies living there, since there's an inconsistency in the tales, neither must be true." He drops his hat and bends to pick it up. 

"You're no fun!" Euiwoong whines, clutching onto Woojin's arm. He stares at Woojin when he finally gets a glimpse of him. "Hey, what's up with the eyepatch?"

"Bumped into a shelf of potions, one bottle cracked open and spilled on my eye and now I have these huge boils," Woojin grunts, "Just my luck."

To anyone else walking around, they'd see two boys walking together, arms interlaced, and they'd see a couple. An elderly couple even coos at them adoringly. But the two are so absorbed in each other's company that they barely notice anything else around them. 

They stop a few paces before the bakery and Woojin's demeanour changes. He begins walking softer, more stealthily, and his movements are quick and sharp. Honestly, it's completely unnecessary to be so agile, the baker is a kind man that doesn't mind if you steal a bread or two. He takes it as helping a poor soul in need. 

But maybe Woojin just wants to impress Euiwoong. 

He's always seen as a clumsy boy, and he wants to change this image that he has. At least, in front of Euiwoong, whom he actually wishes to impress. 

He sneaks into the back of the bakery, hand sneaking out for a piece of honey bread, when-

"Park Woojin?" The baker calls out, laughing softly. "Yah, if you needed free honey bread you could have just asked." 

Woojin blushes to the roots of his hair and his head snaps round to check if Euiwoong has seen this embarrassing situation take place. 

He, thankfully, hasn't. 

"Taehyun hyung,  _please_!" Woojin says, not whines. He does not whine. 

The baker, Noh Taehyun laughs and pets his head. He wraps two loaves in a towel and passes it to Woojin, who accepts it with a bow and thanks. "I'll repay you, I promise!" 

Taehyun shakes his head. "You don't have to. Consider it payback for making the bartender at the village bar happy by making his favourite customer happy." He nudges Woojin's shoulder. "Go on, I bet your friend's waiting for his bread." Woojin beams at Taehyun, showing off his snaggletooth and bounds off out where he came from.

As he reappears, Euiwoong snatches a loaf of honey bread for him and munches down on it happily. When he's done, Woojin passes over his own loaf and assures Euiwoong that  __ _yes, it's fine to just eat it, eat it before I shove it down your throat_ and he's actually hungry, but the content smile on Euiwoong's face as he attacks the other loaf of honey bread is completely worth his growling stomach.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel's nervous and Hyungseob's astounded.
> 
> Meanwhile, Woojin gets thrown into the dungeons. Properly this time.

"Must I go?" Samuel whines to his father. Kang Daniel grips his collar and yanks it higher.

"Suck in your stomach." He mutters as he buttons up Samuel's white waistcoat.

"Dad, please?" Samuel pushes at Daniel's arms. "I have literally zero interest in our neighbours or their 'cute as a bunny' son."

Daniel pets Samuel's hair. "Hey, we have to strengthen relations with them. Ever since your mother's passing, we've become so distant. It's important for kingdoms to be allies, you know." The corners of his mouth lift. "At the very least, allying with this one in the north will be better than that in the south. You know, King Hyunbin's son?"

Samuel nods and shudders. "Imagine marrying Prince Jihoon. I'd have to fight my way through thousands of crying fangirls and fanboys at my wedding." They both share a laugh.

Royal Advisor Jaehwan chooses this moment to burst through the doors. He throws the heavy doors open with more force than neccessary and they slam against the walls of the palace before closing shut in Jaehwan's face. "It's time to leave!"

"Jaehwan-ssi," Daniel says stonily, opening the door, "I'm still your King."

"Oh, sorry, Your Royal Highness whose ass I spend 24/7 kissing, King of everything the Sun touches, Mufasa, Oh Great One, Bringer of Peace and the Harvest, can we _go_ now?" Jaehwan bows deeply, glaring at the King through his fringe. 

The relationship between King Daniel and his Royal Advisor is very strange. They've been close friends since they were young, Daniel had accidentally (or so he says) pushed Jaehwan into a well. Their friendship only developed from there, and even to this day, they're still fast friends.

Jaehwan remains the only person in the entire palace capable of yelling and insulting the King without getting fired or executed. He's well aware of this fact, so he utilises it as much as possible with absolutely no fear. He's about to kneel on the floor and press his head to the floor in a continued show of sarcasm when Daniel snorts.

"Aren't we, I don't know, a little too excessive with the compliments?" Mirth colours Daniel's voice as he tugs Jaehwan up from the floor.

Jaehwan bats his eyelids at Daniel. "I would compliment you more, but we have to leave so that Sammy-boy can leave a good impression on his future-in-laws." He leaves it at that and whirls out of the room.

Future-in-laws.

Even the term sounds scary to Samuel. _I'm only fifteen_ , he thinks miserably. What if he fails? What if he's hated by them? What if he's inadequate? What will happen to his father and him?

Samuel shuffles uncertainly towards his father. "W-what if the Prince doesn't like me? What if I don't like him? Then what?" He doesn't like the thought of harbouring an unrequited love for anyone or vice versa. It's quite cruel, he thinks, loving someone who doesn't love you back.

Indeed, it's better to be loved than to love.

"Then we'll have you marry someone else, because your happiness comes first." Daniel bops his son on the nose. "But you have to promise me that you'll try your best."

Samuel laughs, eyes sparkling. "I promise."

"If you two don't get down here in _two minutes_ , I'm overthrowing you both and becoming King myself!" Jaehwan's infuriated shout carries from five floors below.

In another universe, Royal Advisor Jaehwan would probably be a singer with those powerful lungs that he has.

Right now, he is a Royal Advisor with the side job of Entertainer, especially when he's drunk. Let's just say, that he's not allowed near the wine cellars for as long as he lives under any circumstances, and that the entire palace has had enough glimpses of his bare behind to last them a lifetime.

Daniel turns to Samuel. "Race you down, son." They run all the way down the winding staircase, until Samuel misses a step and begins to roll down. Panicked, Samuel's hand shoots out and latches onto Daniel's leg, holding it in place. The momentum of running down the stairs, however, propels them forwards.

They end up tumbling down the stairs together in a blur of arms, legs, and pink hair and wind up at the bottom entangled together.

Samuel carefully manoeuvres his head out of his father's armpit and collapses on the carpet, giggling hysterically. He looks up to see a pair of polished shoes tapping impatiently in front of his face and a bemused Jaehwan looming over him.

"Glad to see that you came down in 2 minutes and 9 seconds, now chop chop, let's go!" Samuel is pulled to his feet and dusted off before he is unceremoniously shoved into a carriage.

Daniel stumbles into the carriage right after him, chortling freely. Jaehwan clambers in with more grace than usual and hands Daniel a vomit bag. "The ride will be bumpy so please hold on to your breakfast and don't get it all over this carriage. Servant Ha Minho is already complaining from the last time about how hard it is to get vomit out from every nook and cranny of a carriage." Daniel flashes Jaehwan a thumbs up and pointedly stares out of the window in an attempt to prevent himself from getting nauseous.

Silence falls in the carriage and Samuel's left to his thoughts again. He shakes his head to clear his mind. It won't do him any good to dwell on such poisonous thoughts, only time will tell what's in store for him. He leans against his father and sighs contentedly.

He wishes that this moment will never end.

 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

 

"We're having guests over tonight to discuss your pending engagement, Seob-ah, so please don't leave the palace today." 

Hyungseob's fork clatters onto his plate as he gapes at his fathers. "Wait,  _what?_ " 

Eunki looks up, "Seob-ah, did you really think we didn't know you were sneaking out?" Hyungseob had, actually, guessed that his parents knew. They simply opted to ignore it, and it would certainly be hard to ignore after the coin pouch incident where his disappearance nearly caused the nation to declare itself to be in an Emergency Situation. 

"Not that," he drums his fingers on the table, "something about an engagement?" Eunki nods and delicately brings more food to his mouth. "But appa-"

"No buts," Eunki says firmly, "It will help the kingdom; isn't that what you want?" 

No, Hyungseob wants Woojin. 

"Appa, I won't agree to get married! Baba, help me convince Appa?" Hyungseob turns his pleading eyes onto Jung Jung, who shifts in his seat. 

Jung Jung's eyes are apologetic. "I'm sorry, baobei, but I can't do anything. The decision really lies on the young Prince coming over tonight." He pats Hyungseob's head. "His name is Samuel, he's a sweet boy, I'm sure you'll enjoy his company. 

Hyungseob crosses his arms in frustration. He doesn't want to get married to anyone other than Woojin. 

Hold on, didn't his Baba mention that the engagement was up to this sketchy Samuel kid? The cogs in Hyungseob's brain began to turn. What if, he managed to convince Samuel not to marry him? If Samuel hated him and his lack of manners, then the engagement would be called off! Hyungseob patted himself on the back. He'd plan more later in the privacy of his bedroom. 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

The towers of this palace were taller than the ones he had at home, Samuel observed. Maybe it would be fun to roll down all of them? 

The royal family moves out to greet them and Samuel stops in his tracks. This is the person he might get married to? 

The boy does look like a bunny, and he is cute, but his hair is tied up into what looks like an apple stem? His clothes have none of the fine fabrics and silks that royals usually wear and he looks so gloomy and unhappy to be there that Samuel almost mistook him for one of the staff. Almost.

"What is that...?" Samuel steps forward, staring at the tiny apply ponytail on Hyungseob's head. It's quite bouncy and the boy's fringe doesn't fall into his eyes like Samuel's does. Hmm, maybe he should try it sometime. Hyungseob does not reply, and stares impassively at him. When it is apparent that he's not going to get his answer, Samuel steps back and falls in line with his father and Jaehwan, who mutters something under his breath, no doubt something snarky. 

It's almost as if Jaehwan has no shame. 

"Welcome!" Jung Jung moves forward to shake their hands, "We hope you'll enjoy your stay here!" 

Daniel gives a lopsided grin. "It's our pleasure. Now, would you kindly give us a tour of the castle?" Jung Jung nods and takes Eunki's hand before retreating into the castle. Daniel trails after them, impressed by the high ceilings. Jaehwan, however, is impressed by the acoustics of the palace, now and then letting out small noises that reverberate all around them. Daniel nudges Jaehwan in the ribs each time it happens, and they bicker in low voices before quieting down whenever Eunki and Jung Jung glance back at them. 

Hyungseob and Samuel stay on the palace steps. Samuel tries again. "Hi, I'm Kim Samuel." He sticks his hand out. 

Hyungseob regards the hand with distaste, looks Samuel in the eye, and burps.

No, more like belches. 

Samuel is caught off guard, but it's funny and new for a royal to be so mannerless, so he laughs. Hyungseob, on the other hand, is worried, because  _oh no, I made him laugh, he's bound to want to marry me now!_ Samuel wipes a solitary tear from the corner of his eye. "Oh, that was a good one. Want to hear me burp the alphabet?" 

"You're not disgusted?" Hyungseob's jaw drops. 

Samuel shakes his head. "No, in fact, I think I can do better than that." A smug smile appears on his face. "That _was_ good, but I'm the undefeated champion." 

Hyungseob glares, determination burning in his eyes. "Bring it on." 

Later that day, their parents find them both in the garden having a burping competition. Daniel laughs. Eunki and Jung Jung are horrified. They pull Hyungseob aside. 

"Ahn Hyungseob! What in the world are you doing?" Eunki stage-whispers, eyes comically wide in horror. "You're not leaving a good impression! Royals are supposed to be proper and respectful, not burping all over the roses!" Hyungseob smiles wider. A bad impression was what he was aiming for. 

"Dad! He's such a fun person to be with!" Samuel muses to his father. "Who knew there were other people who would easily engage in burping competitions like we do!" Daniel ruffles his hair playfully. "I don't think I can marry someone who's burp could rival mine, though, I have to be the best." 

Eunki is still having a mental breakdown. "Do you want to be the death of me? I'm getting gray hairs already from this!" Jung Jung was patting his back soothingly, trying to calm him down. "Do you already love someone? Is that it? Is that why you're doing this?" 

Hyungseob's smile is wiped clean off his face. He stiffens and blushes bright red. 

Hyungseob's reaction is the confirmation that they need. His parents stare at him incredulously. "Seob-ah is growing up..." Jung Jung whispers, mostly to himself, as Eunki throws his hands into the air.

"Is it the Euiwoong boy? I told you that boy was not going to be a good servant, molesting my baby-" 

"Appa, he was helping me bandage my foot, like  _you_ told him to!" 

"-stealing my precious Seob-ah, I should throw him in the dungeons!" 

"I don't even like Euiwoong that way, he's just a friend!" Hyungseob all but screams in frustration.

Euiwoong pauses from his place at the entrance to the garden after hearing his name. He's clutching a watering can in his arms, staring at a hysterical Eunki and an embarrassed Hyungseob. "Do I want to know what's going on?" 

"It's okay, Eu- eI- euo- nevermind, Woong," Jung Jung is quick to reassure, "you can leave." And he does, pointedly ignoring that the other King messed up his name again. Maybe he should just change his name to Metamong, everyone knows how to pronounce that. 

"Hey kid," Daniel whispers to Euiwoong, "I can relate to your struggles. I was once called Euigeon. Even my own father couldn't pronounce it." He offers Euiwoong a sympathetic smile as the boy slowly backs out of the room. Are all royals out of their minds? Is that it?

Jaehwan dissipates any tension in the room immediately by clapping twice, "So, dear Kings, what's on the menu for dinner?" He rubs his hands together. "Maybe some lemon meringue for dessert?"

 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

After dinner, Hyungseob and Samuel meet on the balcony. Hyungseob isn't sure how to tell Samuel about his decision without hurting the other boy's feelings, but he is beaten to it. 

"I don't want to marry you." Samuel blurts out. "I might be letting down both our kingdoms, but I can't do it. I can't marry you." 

Hyungseob breathes a sigh of relief and lets out a chuckle. "Me neither. Besides, I like someone else." 

Samuel's eyes glint in curiosity. "Ooh, who is this mysterious boytoy of yours, hmm?" 

Hyunseob grins. "I'm not telling you, but I can show you. Just get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow and we'll go find him."

 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

"So I have to call you Euiwoong?" 

"...Yes." 

"And I have to wear this cloak?" 

"Yes."

"And I have to change my name?" 

"Yes, Kim, now  _please_ shut up so I can find Woojin." Hyungseob tiptoes and cranes his neck, looking for Woojin. He's gathered at their usual meeting place and Woojin's never late, in fact, he's always the first one there. What happened today?

"I don't think we'll get to meet him, he's probably busy," Hyungseob sighs sadly. He was really looking forward to meeting with Woojin.

"You'll catch him next time," Samuel chirps, "He should be feeling really guilty right now that he can't meet you as per routine." He pats Hyungseob's shoulder. "Cheer up a little."

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

 

Today is a very different day. It starts off in a damp, dark cell that thankfully has a window, so Woojin can see. There's really not much to see in a dungeon cell, except that there are just about a million white markings on the walls. Looks like someone was tallying the days they had left to live. 

Woojin pulls his jacket over his shoulders. Maybe they'll execute him. He doesn't know. He hopes not. He wants to see Euiwoong again. 

Oh no, Euiwoong! They were supposed to meet an hour ago! 

"Euiwoong!" He calls. Euiwoong works as a guard, right? Maybe he's returned to the palace by now and he'll come visit. "Euiwoong!" 

Guard Joo groans. "Will you shut up- wait, no, nevermind. Guard Lai!" Guard Lai saunters in slowly. "Please go grab Euiwoong for me, I'll just about go crazy with our newest prisoner."

As Guard Lai leaves to get Euiwoong, Woojin discreetly looks at the offending object that he got arrested for.

It's a hair-tie, not a big gift, but he'll understand the meaning behind it. The hair-tie is thin, but its strong. The cloth has strands of silver woven into it and it sparkles in the light. When Woojin lay his eyes on it, he knew instinctively that it belonged on Euiwoong's hair, no one else's.

He had to get it for him. He can't pay for it, the shop owner was an unkind man, so he sneaked in and stole it. The theft went unnoticed for 5 minutes, and would have been successful had Park Woojin not dropped an entire globe onto his foot.

Woojin swears it slipped from his grasp.

"I heard that someone wanted to see me?" A voice calls out and Woojin scrambles to his feet. 

He halts. "You're not Euiwoong."

"I actually am." Euiwoong gestures at Woojin. "Is this guy for real?" 

"No, you're definitely not. Euiwoong looks older, has sharper features, looks really delicate and has an apple ponytail." Woojin's brain cannot process what is happening. It's beginning to malfunction He can feel it  

"I'm the only Euiwoong in this whole country; I would know, I've suffered for it." Euiwoong deadpans, 100% thoroughly done with Woojin.

Woojin scratches his head.

Euiwoong is not Euiwoong, if this guy is telling the truth So, if the Euiwoong he knows is not the real Euiwoong, then, who is "Euiwoong"? 

"Wait did you say, _apple ponytail_?" When Woojin nods slowly, Euiwoong slaps a hand over his face and drags it down slowly. "I can't believe this." 

Guard Joo and Guard Lai arrive at the same conclusion at the same time. "Wait, you don't mean-"

"Yes," Euiwoong sighs, "Ahn Hyungseob. Again." 

Woojin slumps to the floor. Great. Euiwoong was not Euiwoong. Euiwoong was Hyungseob. Apparently, he's been lied to? The dishonesty doesn't matter to him, they spend their time together literally stealing from people. Well, at least trying their very best to; Eui- _Hyungseob_ , he corrects himself, is way too loud and he's way too clumsy. But that's just their dynamic, perfect in it's own way. 

Something occurs to Woojin all of a sudden. "Hey, that's funny. My friend shares the same name as Prince Hyungseob." 

The three people outside of the cell whip their head around stare at him incredulously. Woojin gets the feeling that he's somehow missing something really important. "Do you not know how the Prince looks like?" 

Woojin fidgets. "Am I supposed to? All I've heard is that he has pale skin, soft raven-black hair and an apple ponytail at every event but I don't see how that relates to-"

Then everything falls into place.

"Oh," he whispers, "I'm fucked aren't I?" 

Guard Joo, Guard Lai and Euiwoong nod slowly in perfect synchrony, feeling just the slightest bit of pity for Woojin.

It's not everyday you find out that your best friend is actually a Prince. 

And you've sworn at said best friend, punched said best friend, burped in said best friend's face and you have a crush on this best friend. 

Woojin groans and drops his head into his hands. He is so screwed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read this fic, left it a kudos, bookmarked it, left a comment, I appreciate every single one of you!


	3. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seongwoo messes up a potion and messes with time as a result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a plan for the chapter and it got really long  
> everytime i type the ™ symbol I have to google the symbol to copy and paste it because I don't actually know how to do it on my keyboard.

Hyungseob expects a lot of things from life. He expects there to be difficult times, easy times, fun times, and time where things do not happen at all. The palace is the place where absolutely nothing happens when he's around. 

He definitely does not expect to be accosted by Justin, the stableboy. "Prince Hyungseob! It's an emergency!" He says breathlessly. "We have a prisoner in the dungeons- oh this is so exciting!" 

Is that where Woojin went? The dungeons?  _Again?_

"You know, we haven't had a prisoner in the dungeons for the past 50 years! King Jung Jung told me so." Justin marvels, clasping his hands together as he leads Hyungseob into the dungeons. "Euiwoongie hyung told me to snatch you to the dungeons the moment you stepped foot in the castle, but uh, not him." Justin cranes his neck to look at Samuel who's standing awkwardly to the side. "Sorry, Prince Samuel." 

Samuel shakes his head and hands. "Oh no, it's fine. I'll amuse myself in other ways. I'll probably toilet-paper the throne room or something." Hyungseob can already see the exact moment that Samuel decides that that is a good idea and he decides to steer clear before Eunki goes crazy over his gold throne (that he worked so hard to get) covered in toilet paper. Samuel rushes off after a maid, yelling about toilet paper. "40 rolls!" He tells her, "I really need them, so could you help me get the 40 rolls of toilet paper?" 

"Can't we, you know, just let the prisoner go?" Hyungseob asks, "It's not like we particularly need to keep prisoners." 

Justin shakes his head. "Euiwoong hyung's orders, sorry Prince Hyungseob." 

They arrive in the dungeons to see a livid Euiwoong. "Hyung, this is a serious case of identity theft." He narrows his eyes at Hyungseob. "What unspeakable things have you done under my name?" 

"I haven't done anything!" Hyungseob retorts indignantly. "I promise that I've done nothing!" 

"Except steal some bread, a coin pouch, two coins from the Goyang Dynasty at the antique shop, more bread from Taehyun hyung and a book." Woojin pipes up from the cell. "Hi Euiwo- Hyungseob." 

Euiwoong tilts his head in Woojin's general direction. "You should talk to him, otherwise you could lose your only friend." 

Hyungseob frowns. "I will. Thanks." Then he turns to Euiwoong. "Wait, only friend? I thought you were my friend!" Euiwoong (the real one) doesn't hear him, already halfway out the dungeons, dragging a reluctant Justin along and leading Guard Joo and Guard Lai away. 

Woojin speaks first. "So, a prince? I'll have to get used to that." 

Hyungseob gives an awkward chuckle as a response. He doesn't really know what to say. "I didn't want you to find out this way."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Hurt flits across Woojin's face. "Did you think that I wouldn't be able to keep your secret? Or that I wasn't worthy enough to know?" 

"You're not mad that I lied to you?" Hyungseob asks, "you don't hate me?" 

"I could never hate you." Woojin grips the bars of the cell, "You're my best friend; whatever you do is acceptable to me." Hyungseob pretends that he doesn't hear his heart shattering when Woojin calls him a best friend, that's all he is to Woojin and that's all he'll ever be. "You still haven't answered my question: Why?" 

"I didn't want to lose you or have you treat me any different," Hyungseob tells him sadly, head drooping. The dungeons are eerily quiet. "But I've ruined everything now, I'm sorry. You probably don't want to see me anymore." He squeezes his eyes shut, anticipating Woojin's answer. 

There's some rustling, and then there are warm arms enveloping him and fingers that leave his skin feeling tingly as his tears are brushed away carefully. Woojin's scent fills his nose, comforting him. Hyungseob cries harder. "You didn't ruin anything, we'll be fine." Woojin reassures. Hyungseob nods and winds his arms tighter around Woojin. 

A few moments pass and they remain in their embrace in the dingy dungeon, until Woojin's stomach grumbles. He belatedly remembers that he wasn't able to grab breakfast this morning because he was initially going to get bread from Taehyun hyung's bakery to feed Hyungseob and himself (when  _himself_ became  _Hyungseob and himself_ , he doesn't quite know) but he had been distracted by that hair tie. 

Suddenly remembering, he pulls out the hairtie and hands it to Hyungseob, blushing furiously. "I-it's for you." Hyungseob takes it from him, awed. 

"My Baba told me that the best way to show appreciation for someone's gift is to use it," Hyungseob says as he winds the hair tie into his hair, effortlessly pulling his hair into his infamous apple ponytail. "Thanks, Woojinnie. How much did you pay for it? It's beautiful!" 

 _It's beautiful, but Hyungseob is even more so,_ Woojin's brain helpfully supplies. He nods appreciatively, the silvery threads standing out in Hyungseob's hair, making him look absolutely breathtaking. He realises Hyungseob has just asked him a question and fumbles for an answer. "Guh?" 

"You stole it, didn't you?" Hyungseob scolds, shaking his head in amusement. "And you got caught and ended up here? How did you even get out of your cell?" 

"Picking locks are the basic fundamentals of thievery." Woojin replies stoically, as if reciting from a manual. 

"I think most basic fundamental is not getting caught." Hyungseob retorts, pressing a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. 

"Well, when you put it that way..." Woojin mutters, pointedly avoiding Hyungseob's eyes. 

Hyungseob bursts into peals of laughter. "Oh this is hilarious! We must tell Samuel!" 

"Samuel? Who's Samuel?" Woojin furrows his eyebrows. "Is he a new servant?"

"No, he's the Prince of the neighbouring kingdom." Hyungseob tosses the reply over his shoulder, already dragging Woojin by the hand. Their hands fit perfectly together and Woojin dies inside at the warmth radiating from Hyungseob's palm. God, he's so Whipped™. 

They walk out of the wooden door, bodies pressed together. Woojin is oblivious to his surroundings as his eyes are fixated solely on Hyungseob, and he doesn't notice that anything is wrong until Hyungseob lets out a giant gasp. "Woongie!" He turns. 

If Woojin didn't know better, he would think that the scene playing out in front of him is from a photograph. Euiwoong is frozen in a painful almost-split and his features are twisted into a nasty snarl. Justin is pushing down on his shoulders from behind Euiwoong. His head is thrown back in a laugh, pointy teeth on display for all to see. 

"Woongie?" Hyungseob pokes at Euiwoong. He's warm to the touch, but stiff as a taxidermy. Euiwoong doesn't respond, face still contorted into that comically angry expression. 

"Something definitely happened here." Woojin says with a note of finality. "Something magical. Did it spread to the whole castle?" Hyungseob's eyes widen and he dashes off, coming to a halt in the dining room. 

It's like a stop motion film, a lot of stop and no motion. The adult royalties were getting quite rowdy, Hyungseob notes, as he sees his parents frozen in a kiss, legs muscles bulging out. He comes to the conclusion that his parents were intimate drunk dancing. Intimate drunk dancing is common for his parents and while they are astounding dancers, Hyungseob is stuck with two left feet. 

He hears Woojin skidding to a halt behind him but Hyungseob pays him no heed. Unexpectedly, he bursts out into laughter. 

Anyone living in the royal court knows the story of King Daniel's Royal Advisor Jaehwan and his ban from alcohol, but it is apparent that King Eunki did not give a shit. Wine was sloshed down Jaehwan's shirt, staining the pale white to a deep purple. He appears to be screaming in a goblet while giving King Daniel a strong middle finger.

Did Jaehwan have a death wish or something? Why was he always attempting to get himself killed? 

Hyungseob moves to press the middle finger back into his fist. He tucks it under Jaehwan's thumb for good measure.

Doing a quick mental count of the people present, he notices that there's one missing.  _Samuel!_

 

                                                                               *     *     *     *     *

They pass by many frozen people on their way to the throne room, where Hyungseob insists Samuel is.  _Why is this Samuel kid so important,_ Woojin thinks sourly,  _I should be the only important one!_ Woojin stops walking for a moment and backtracks a few steps. There, in the kitchen, is Guard Lai. He's not moving, but he has his arms wrapped around someone not that much shorter than him. They're both covered in flour and have gigantic grins despite the palace kitchen looking like winter came early. 

"Who knew Guanlin had a thing for Seonho," Hyungseob whistles lowly and shuffles out of the room. Woojin trails after him, not really knowing where he should go. He's never really been to the palace before, only the palace dungeons. Maybe it's just him, but the palace isn't quite what he expected. It's a little more lacklustre, less vibrant than the castle in his dreams.

  
But he's sure that it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Hyungseob is ignoring him.

  
He glares at Hyungseob's retreating figure with mild discontent.

  
Absolutely nothing.

 

Samuel is exactly where Hyungseob said he'd be. And he's also done exactly what he said he'd do.

The damage is much, much worse than last time. Almost every inch of the throne room is covered in toilet paper, especially the gold throne, which is buried in so many layers of toilet paper that Hyungseob didn't even know that the white misshapen lump in the centre of the room was his father's throne.

Samuel is in the centre of it all. His arm is pulled back, ready to pitch the final roll of toilet paper that is firmly clutched in his grasp. He looks like a painted marble statue to Hyungseob, and it's true, so he says it out loud.

  
"Doesn't Samuel look like a sculpture to you?" He asks himself.

  
"More like a shattered sculpture," Woojin mutters.

  
"What did you say?"

  
"Huh, oh I said that everyone in this castle should be frozen, maybe we should check outside?" Woojin suggests, crossing his fingers and hoping that Hyungseob didn't hear his snide remark.

"We should broaden the search," Hyungseob muses, "we might find more people unfrozen." He starts off towards the door, tiptoeing carefully around the piles of toilet paper. Woojin, on the contrary, stomped his way through, even pausing to give Samuel a hard kick in the shin.

  
"Please don't get all chummy with Hyungseob, he's mine." He pokes Samuel, knowing all too well that Samuel won't be able to hear him. "You got that? Mine, not yours." He flounces out with the air of a man who has triumphed over millions.

  
Woojin honestly hopes that they won't find anymore unfrozen people, at least, for a day. Selfish as it sounds, he doesn't want to share Hyungseob with anyone, and with everyone else turning into non-sentient beings, Hyungseob has no choice but to turn all his attention to Woojin. The thought of having Hyungseob all to himself thrills him and he rejoins Hyungseob and helps him search properly, determined not to find anyone who's still moving.

After hours pass, the sun should rightfully have gone down. But it doesn't. It hangs in the sky, like a splotch of bright yellow against the cool blue sky.

  
Woojin voices this irregularity to Hyungseob. "Shouldn't the sun rightfully have gone down by now?

  
Hyungseob scritches his chin. "You're absolutely right, that is strange." He mulls over the events of the day and quickly comes to a conclusion. "I think time has frozen." 

"If it has, what can we do about it? We can't survive here on our own and we can't just leave everyone else." Woojin groans, the severity of the situation finally coming to light. 

"It had to be magic," Hyungseob says, mostly to himself. "That's why we weren't affected, because the dungeon walls have energy-absorbing matter in them." He snaps his fingers. "We'll have to find someone magical to help us with this." A thought crosses his mind but he quickly dismisses it. Then, he starts to dwell on this thought, and he's whirling around to tell Woojin all about his master plan to save the kingdom-

"No." Woojin says exasperatedly. "Whatever you're thinking, it can't be good. So, no."

"You haven't heard it yet!" Hyungseob bounces on the balls of his feet. "Look, it's magic right, so we could always head to the-"

"Not the forest." Woojin says flatly. "We don't know what's in there, we could literally get killed. And I know I'm too young and beautiful to die."

 "Oh, come on! We'll never know if we never try! The responsibility of saving the world is on us now, we have to do it!" Woojin still looks conflicted, so Hyungseob tries another approach. "I would really love it if we did, I've always dreamt of being a superhero." 

Woojin's resolve crumbles and he relents, sighing. "Fine," he says begrudgingly, "we'll go." 

 

                                                                              *     *     *     *     *

Seongwoo honestly doesn't know how things turned out this way. Okay, that's an understatement. He's knows exactly how things turned out this way. 

His potion started off normal, bubbling and brewing, turning the most beautiful shade of pink. He'd spent months perfecting the recipe in hopes that with this new creation, he'd finally be able to get back at the fairies living in the glen for spelling his water into lemon juice for three years. 

He had hummed happily to himself, busting out a few moves here and there that he'd learnt while watching the humans in the kingdom perform their dance. That was probably where he went wrong. 

While lipsynching a particular high note, he'd leant back too far and overbalanced into a shelf of potion ingredients, toppling the whole thing over. He watched in trepidation as a collection of unnamed ones fell into his potion ( _months of hard work, ruined!_ ) and the potion turned calm. Too calm. 

He quickly grabbed a cauldron and hid himself behind it. The only time a potion is calm is when it's done, or when it's about to blow up. 

And blow up it did. 

The force of the resulting explosion blasts his humble little abode (read: lavish mansion) to smithereens, as well as everything else in it. Seongwoo quickly dumps the charred cauldron in his grip and sticks a finger in the air, assessing the magical damage done.

The blood drains out of his face.

The magic in the air is thick, tendrils of it curling around him before drifting off, undoubtedly leaving the magical forest in search of more people's lives to damage. He's not that strong a witch to find out what he's just created without leaving the forest and following the magic to see for himself what's going on, but the last time any witch stepped foot outside of the forest, they got burned at stake.

He slumps on the forest floor. What exactly has he done? 

Seongwoo has no house, no food, no clothes, no bed, no water, no potion ingredients, none of his rare runes, and most importantly, no potion. 

Which means,  _no revenge_. 

Those nasty fairies are going to have a field day once they find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had a typo at the comforting scene and it was "hyungsob" and i found it really funny because hyungseob is supposed to be crying and "hyung- _sob_ " you know
> 
> ok im lame  
> thanks for enjoying!!


	4. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forests are decidedly weird places to be, Woojin concludes, especially when it's inhabitants are engaged in a centuries-old prank war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> while writing this, I hit 1500 hits!  
> *cue applause*  
> Im so grateful to all my readers and to those who comment and leave a kudos, thank you all so much!!

_Forests always feel different,_ Woojin reasons with himself, _there's nothing wrong with this particular one._ This forest has always been strange to Woojin, and now it's just even weirder. After what feels like a day in frozen time, anything alive and moving quickly easily startles him. He mentally berates himself for getting convinced to follow Hyungseob.

Hyungseob's feet still and Woojin hurries to stand by his side. If anything were to pop out now, he'd be the one to protect Hyungseob.  
When nothing pops out, he relaxes, but is immediately whacked by a confused Hyungseob.

"I don't get it," He gawks, arms flapping. "The legend clearly said that the witch lives here! Where is she?" Something rustles in the undergrowth behind them. "I don't get it!"

Woojin doesn't understand either. He's always thought that they've been on a wild goose chase, but evidently they aren't. In front of them is a large blackened patch of grass and a huge pile of ashes, which has to mean that there was something that used to stand there, probably - judging by the charred cauldron that lies discarded a few feet away - the witch's hut.

"No way," comes a voice from behind them, "who are you guys?"

Woojin pivots around and sees a tall man with raven hair standing there, staring straight at them. Woojin tries not to openly stare. This man is admittedly very handsome with a model-like physique. He is filled with the sudden urge to wait on this man and bend over backwards running errands for him.

Hold on, that's not right. He's in love with Hyungseob, not this random floozy.

Despite this newcomer's good looks, Woojin instinctively goes to stand in front of a wide-eyed Hyungseob. "Who are you?" He asks warily, eyeing the stranger with apprehension.

The man is clearly taken aback. He clears his throat. "Ah, I just wandered into this forest when I saw you two walking in. I was wondering, if you could help me?" He steps forward, seductively draping himself against a tree to appeal to Woojin.

Woojin blinks. "Dude, are you okay? What on Earth are you doing?"

Seongwoo grits his teeth. Focus. He can do this.

He sends a beaming smile at Woojin. "Say, wouldn't you want to lend me a hand?" Woojin slowly shakes his head, getting increasingly creeped out. "Am I not beautiful to you?" Seongwoo wails, finally giving up. "Are you not convinced by my charms?"

Hyungseob immediately slaps a hand over Woojin's eyes. "Don't look!" He shrieks, panicked, backtracking as fast as he can. "It's the witch with her feminine wiles!"

"Seobbie, please stop!" Woojin yells in response, struggling against the grip that Hyungseob has him in. "It's fine, he's not even female!"

"You could still be drawn in!" Hyungseob insists, relentlessly smacking Woojin cheek to get him back to his senses. "I'm not taking any chances!"

"I'm not romantically interested in your boyfriend, chill," Seongwoo says drily, seemingly recovering from the embarrassing failure to magically compel Woojin to do his bidding. "I'm too handsome for him."

Both Hyungseob and Woojin stop bickering and Hyungseob drops his hands, causing Woojin to fall into a heap on the ground. They both ignore the "boyfriend" comment, in an attempt to prevent themselves from saying something that could potentially upset the other.

"You're the witch?" Hyungseob asks, ruffling the hair atop his head. "I don't get it. You're supposed to be a woman."

"Oh, is that it? Witches can only be women?" Seongwoo snarks back, arms akimbo. His eyebrows are pinched together and his lips are pulled into a grimace. "Do you have a problem with my being a witch?" 

"We didn't mean that!" Woojin squawks, "The legend misinformed us! We're sorry, we didn't mean to be rude!" He wasn't about to go about insulting Magiks and getting himself hexed into the next century, thank you very much.

Seongwoo tuts disapprovingly. "Never trust legends, they're very historically inaccurate. For one, they mess up my gender." He says pointedly. "Though, I'm not too hung up about that." He waves a hand flippantly. "Witches, wizards. The difference is pedantic; anyone can be anything these days. So long as you have magic running in your veins, you're a magicky being."

Hyungseob and Woojin nod and mumble their agreements, enlightened. "I know it's a bit much to ask, since we just met and all," Hyungseob starts, "but could you help us? We're in a bit of a situation." He fiddles with his fingers. "A very magical situation."

"Nothing my magical expertise can't handle." Seongwoo tosses his head of hair around a bit, resembling a peacock proudly putting its tail feathers on display and strutting around. "What's the issue?"

Woojin scratches his cheek. "We think time has frozen and we need your help to unfreeze and save our friends and families."

Seongwoo's mouth opens, then closes. Out of all the problems in the world, why did it have to be one that he caused?

And why did it have to be the one that he had no idea how to fix?

 

                                                                                                              *       *       *       *       * 

 

"Mom, Dad! I'm home!" Daehwi calls out cheerfully. 

There's no response. 

Daehwi tilts his head. His arm shoots out and catches the sleeve of Kenta, a Cloud Fairy. "Hey Kenta-hyung," he says cheerfully, "Have you seen King Youngmin and King Donghyun?" 

Kenta frowns and shakes his head. "They haven't been back since they visited the village to get some bread, sorry Prince Daehwi." Daehwi nods and lets Kenta go tend to the clouds. Was it possible that that incorrigible witch did something horrible to his parents?  _It's entirely possible_ , Daehwi thinks,  _Three years of lemon juice can do unspeakable things to one's stomach._ He doesn't regret bringing up the idea, though, it was all fun. So far, Seongwoo hadn't retaliated, maybe he'd kidnapped the Kings of Fairykind to avenge himself!

Daehwi clenches his fist in anger, accidentally causing Food Fairy Gunhee's pizza to go up in flames. He yelps and drops the burning slice of food, immediately signalling for a Water Fairy to help. "I need help!" He wails, mouth opening wide to let his voice project around the Fairy Glen, "Prince Daehwi's at it again!"

As the Water Fairies put the fire out, Prince Daehwi gathers them all. "Fairies!" He announces, "Our Kings are in danger!" A scandalised murmur rises from the crowd as the fairies turn to each other and begin talking in hushed tones to each other. Their Kings? Kidnapped? Highly unlikely, but still possible. "I, as their brave son, will go forth and fetch them back! I will take half of the Fairmy with me; the other half will stay here and guard our beloved Fairy Glen!" 

 

                                                                                                              *       *       *       *       * 

 

"Ah, a frozen time issue! A healing rune should work." Seongwoo declares, hiding his uncertainty behind his winning smile. He is honestly not sure if something as simple as a healing rune will work on magic so complex as the one they're dealing with. But hey, if you can't blow them away with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit.

"Great!" Hyungseob all but yells with joy. "Let's go find one then!" 

Seongwoo grins. "I have one, it's in my-" He stops short. 

"It's in your...?" Woojin prompts. 

"I used to have one." Seongwoo says, slowly enunciating each word. "But it's gone. I blew it up. By accident." Hyungseob droops disappointedly. "I know where we can get one, so don't worry."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Hyungseob beams. "We're going to save the world, imagine that."  

Seongwoo doesn't have anything to say back for once, so he zips his mouth shut and they move, Seongwoo in the lead. 

Everything goes well until Woojin walks into a tree and a beehive smashes directly onto his head, where infuriated bees begin stinging him everywhere, especially his face. Seongwoo sighs and quickly conjures out some water with the fanciest hand movements known to Magikind and dumps it on his head. The bees scatter and everything seems fine, until Woojin's face swells up to the point where he's unrecognisable. Hyungseob dashes to his side and gives him a big hug, trying to comfort him about his face but ultimately making it worse as Woojin hadn't originally known about the dire state his face was in. 

 _Great,_ Woojin thinks miserably, _I must look like an idiot. Hyungseob would never like me back this way._  

As they walk on, Woojin nursing his swollen face, something occurs to Seongwoo. "Hey, I have to mention something. Where we're going, the Magiks there don't like me." He starts, tossing a backward glance over his shoulder. "It's got to do with a prank war, so don't worry too much. It's not like they'll ambush us at any given time with an army-" 

"Attack!" 

His voice cuts off with a yelp as bodies begin to rain from the trees. Humanoid figures thump to the ground beside them, quickly grabbing their arms and holding them behind their backs. Hyungseob whimpers and tries to get free. Woojin rushes to his aid but is accosted by even more Magiks. 

"Seongwoo!" Woojin snarls. "What's going on?" 

He gets a garbled reply. Seongwoo is currently struggling against a boy with grey hair who is pouring something that looks like strawberry milk but smells like pure lemon juice down his throat. Swirls of fiery orange curl around his left bicep as he strains to keep a thrashing Seongwoo down. The two teardop shaped markings at the corner of his right eye glow menacingly when he finally steps off Seongwoo's limp body. 

"Nightmare reliver," he says to no one in particular, "Apparently his worst nightmare is lemon juice." He points to a plant fairy. "Dongmyeong-ssi, bring these witches to the Treesons. Don't let them get out or use their magic." 

"Who are you?" Hyungseob gasps. "Do you know who you're dealing with?" 

The grey-haired boy frowns. "I'm Daehwi, Prince of the Fairies. And I know what I'm getting myself into, witch." He pokes Hyungseob's chest and Woojin tries to defend Hyungseob but is restrained by his captors. "I'd suggest that you save the unnecessary information and tell me what I need, yeah? Or it just might get a little...  _hot_ in here." A flame is conjured out of  _fucking nowhere_ , and Hyungseob scurries back as far as he can. 

"Leave him alone, you bastard! He's not a witch!" Woojin shouts, continuing to struggle. He doesn't like to see Hyungseob scared, and even though Hyungseob's the one that got them into this whole mess, he still feels like he's failed the both of them since he can't protect Hyungseob. 

Daehwi raises a perfect eyebrow. "Oh, what bravado. Decided to play with fire, haven't we?" He kneels beside Woojin. "If you want to keep his safe, why even kidnap the Fairy Kings and incur our wrath?" He stands up. "Take them away. I don't want to see them, at least until I've interrogated their leader." 

Five minutes later, as Park Woojin is shoved into a jail cell for the third time in his life, he briefly wonders how he got himself into this situation.

Right.

Ahn Hyungseob.

He turns to Hyungseob, who is simultaneously the root of all his problems and the answer to them all. "Why are you so excited? I'm in jail for the third time in a week, this isn't exactly helping my track record." 

"I was just thinking," Hyungseob says, voice soft as he turns adoring eyes on Woojin, "that if I had to be shoved into a jail cell and get killed by fairies, I'm actually quite glad it's with you." 

Woojin blushes. (He's been doing that a lot around Hyungseob recently, it's  _embarrassing_.)

"Shut up," Woojin mutters, "But, me too. I- There's no one I'd rather be with." Hyungseob shoots him a smile and it's blinding. 

Comfortable silence ensues. 

"Hey Woojin?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I think your swelling's going down." 

"Is it? That's great then." 

 

                                                                                                             *       *       *       *       * 

 

Seongwoo is very rudely awakened by a harsh slap to his cheek. Then, he is doused with lemon juice and it snaps him awake. "Kids, I just had the worst nightmare!" He spots Daehwi walking over to him. "And, the nightmare continues." He sighs dejectedly. It suddenly registers that Hyungseob and Woojin have disappeared. "Woah, Magumagu," he screams at Daehwi, "What have you done to the kids? Isn't this going too far? I haven't even done anything!" 

"What do you mean,  _haven't done anything?_ " Daehwi shrieks. A plant catches fire. "Does kidnapping my parents count as  _nothing_?!" 

"I had nothing to do with that!" Seongwoo hollers. "Aren't your parents on a holiday? Stop this ridiculousness! The children aren't even Magiks!" 

"My parents were supposed to be back a month ago from visiting the village! They haven't returned, you must have nabbed them while they were unawares!" 

"I did no such thing- wait," Seongwoo pauses, "The village? You mean, the one that's frozen in time? The one really close by with a baker that pretty much gives out free food, that village?" 

"You kidnapped them from there, didn't you?" Daehwi screams, "This is why I told them not to go, but does anyone listen to Daehwi? No, no one listens to Daehwi! And when things happen, who do they scold? Daehwi! They come after me!" 

Seongwoo stares at him impassively.

"This isn't working," Daehwi says in frustration. Seongwoo silently agrees. "Bring out the fat one, I'll ask him instead."

"The fat one?" Gunhee asks. He peeks inside the Treeson. "There's no fat anything in here." The two prisoners make noises of agreement.

Daehwi throws his hands in the air. "I'll do it myself, since that's the only way to get things done around here!" He stomps to the Treeson and flings the gate open. He briefly scans the area and narrows his eyes at Woojin.

"I could have sworn you were a little bigger." Daehwi smiles. "Just a little." He peers closer and recognition crosses his face. "Hey! You're-"

"Park Woojin." Woojin says dejectedly.

"I know! I've been helping you steal stuff!"

"What." Woojin deadpans. "I'm pretty sure I steal things mostly alone."

Daehwi claps twice. "But you see, I do help!" He insists, "Ever saw something randomly go up in flames and save you in the nick of time? That was me!"

Woojin scratches his head in bafflement. "So I'm not just painfully clumsy?"

"Oh you are," Daehwi giggles, "Every other accident is on you. I just take care of the fiery bit." He flings the gate door open. "Whatever you did, nevermind, we're best friends now!" He sticks out a hand to aid Woojin out.

Woojin takes it cautiously, still suspicious if this is all a joke. "Okay, Daehwi, then can you help me?"

"Sure!" He laughs. "What do you and your boyfriend need?"

"We need a Healing Rune. Do you know where to get one?" Hyungseob pipes up, ignoring the tingling at the tips of his ears. "Seongwoo said that he knew where to get one and was going to bring us to get it when, you know, this happened."

Daehwi blinks. "So that ass was about to come and steal from us, huh. What do you even need it for anyways?"

"Our entire kingdom got frozen in time and we need to save them because we're the only ones left and the responsibility fell to us." Woojin says. "I feel as if I've repeated this a lot, so I know how cliche it sounds."

Daehwi taps his chin. "Can you take me to the village? I need to assess the damage and see if my parents are still there."

 

                                                                                                              *       *       *       *       * 

 

By the time they get to the village with Seongwoo in tow, absolutely nothing has happened. Everyone is still frozen where they were.

Daehwi gulps. The damage done by this sudden magical surge is greater than he thought.

He spies his parents sitting together on a bench, all-smiles, as they share a moment on a bench under the Great Tree in the Kingdom. King Youngmin's head rests on King Donghyun's lap as his eyes gaze adoringly into King Donghyun's, who looks as if he's about the bend down and give King Youngmin an eskimo kiss.

Daehwi would have cooed at the scene, but his parents are frozen; this means that whoever caused time to freeze was powerful enough to trap Magiks in their spell, but not powerful enough to breach the magical defences of the forest that they lived in.

He voices these thoughts to the rest of the group and tries to ignore Seongwoo's strange look of elation.

"Let's go to the castle," Daehwi suggests, "I want to see what's going on there as well." In hindsight, Daehwi regrets going to the castle. Just in the slightest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think im dying of a broduce 101 deficiency is that possible?


	5. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daehwi has his mind set on it. He's going to do it. Nothing can convince him not to.

"Okay, at first, it was a little fascinating, but now it's just creepy." Daehwi comments as they stroll the halls of the castle. "Does every room have this exact tapestry?"

"Pretty much," Hyungseob laughs. "Grandaunt Hong was a great spender. You know how royals are, rich enough to satisfy all their idiosyncrasies."

The two princes giggle together. Hyungseob snaps his fingers. "Wait, I have to show you something." He turns down a familiar corridor and Woojin sneaks a peek at the sweet couple in the kitchen as they pass by. They haven't moved an inch and their twin smiles are radiant as ever.

Daehwi latches onto Woojin. "Woojin-ah, do you promise to protect me if anything happens?" Woojin shrugs, glancing at Hyungseob to gauge his reaction. Hyungseob only avoids his eyes and speedwalks away. Woojin chases after him, dragging Seongwoo with him.

"Could you please slow down?" Seongwoo complains, "We literally have no reason to rush. It's not like time will magically unfreeze on us." Woojin goes to hold Hyungseob's elbow and shoots him a slightly uneasy smile. Both leave Seongwoo to do as he pleases.

Out of the blue, there is a scream. Hyungseob groans. Daehwi again.

"Help me!" Comes the shout. "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

He is maliciously happy to entertain the thought that Daehwi fell into a well and is sorely tempted to leave him where he is. Woojin spies the look on his face and adopts a rare stern front. "We are not leaving Daehwi wherever he is."

Hyungseob sulks.

"Besides," Woojin reassures, "He's the only one who knows where the healing rune is. You know, the one we need to save your family?" There's no response. Woojin tries again. "Come on, don't you want to be a superhero?" Hyungseob sighs and nods, his face resembling that of a kicked puppy. He begins to lead the way, following the sound of distressed wails.

Hyungseob pushes the door open to the throne room and Woojin steps in after Seongwoo. It feels familiar, walking in and seeing Samuel frozen there.

What isn't familiar, is having Daehwi's teardrop marks glow so brightly that he has to squint. "Help me," Daehwi is close to tears, "I need someone to save me from my own heart."

Daehwi gently brushes his fingertips against Samuel's cheek and sighs. "I have become a bleeding-heart in a matter of five seconds; I have fallen and I cannot get up, what a disaster! Who is this ethereal being?"

Hyungseob wants to cheer but that would be wildly inappropriate. "Prince Samuel," he offers, "Of the neighbouring kingdom."

"Samuel," Daehwi coos, "Beautiful name for a beautiful person. Look at that. Even in his sleep, he looks otherworldly; almost magical." Daehwi gets a starstruck look in his eyes as he encircles his arms around Samuel's still body to give him a bear hug. 

Seongwoo gives him a look. "Bitch, what the hell? You're a literal _fairy._ Do you really want to talk about being magical?"

Daehwi snorts. "You're just jealous that there's someone better looking than you." He turns to Hyungseob and Woojin. "I'm helping you get that Healing Rune, no take backs."

Hyungseob and Woojin make eye contact and grin at each other in relief. Thank heavens for crushes and boys named Samuel. Hyungseob turns to Daehwi and clears his throat, trying to grab his attention. Daehwi ignores him at first in favour of casting longing looks at Samuel right as they're making their way out of the throne room, then he turns. "Do you have a sore throat? I'm sure I have lozenges somewhere." Daehwi says as he raises an eyebrow. 

"I'd like to know where I'm going this time," Hyungseob says, shaking his head. "Last time I went willingly, I got thrown into jail without having done anything."

Daehwi pauses for a few beats before picking up his pace and moving towards the forest.  "I know there's a maze that we have to get through. My dads didn't want people accessing the rune too easily. The maze has different difficulty levels, depending on why you want to use the rune. The eviler your intentions are, the harder it is for you to get the rune." Daehwi walks briskly, hopping from stone to stone as they cross the river in the forest. "The entrance is in a cave nearby here, but I don't know where the exit is. Or if there's even an exit." 

Hyungseob squints. All he sees is green, green, green, lime green, green, green, tiny little dark slit in that curtain of green over there, more green-

Hold on. He points the opening out to the others. "There might be something here-" 

Daehwi is already striding to the plant curtain and setting it on fire. The plants clear in a jiffy, their ashes floating to the ground and turning the green into an ashy grey. "There," he gestures to the mouth of the cave, "We can go in now." 

Seongwoo walks over, carefully avoiding and trying not to trip over Woojin's jaw, which he had dropped somewhere around. "You could have just pushed them aside," he simply says to Daehwi. "You don't really have to pollute the environment."

Woojin collects himself and sticks close to Hyungseob as they walk inside together. He makes it seem as if he needs his help, but really, he's being there for Hyungseob. He knows that ever since a ghost prank was played on him when he was younger by a particular trickster aunt, he's always been scared of the dark. And this cave is very, very dark. "Are you sure about this? You can sit out, you know."

"I'm sure." Hyungseob's lips are pressed into a thin line. "I can do this. J-just hold me, and I'll be okay. I think." 

Woojin sighs. He's too stubborn for his own good. "Alright, then. I'll hold on to you."

Although Hyungseob cannot see where Woojin is right now, he feels Woojin's calloused hand slip into his own and tighten around his hand. Hyungseob squeezes back, smiling softly. He can feel Woojin's body heat radiating off him, and he's never felt safer. 

 _I spoke too soon_ , Hyungseob thinks woefully as the ground falls away underneath his feet.  _This is definitely not safe!_

The four of them land in a heap on the ground. Hyungseob tastes grass in his mouth and he silently wishes that this is all a bad dream. The rest of his body is literally engulfed in warmth and on something soft. Hyungseob pats the squishy thing he's on, praying that it isn't a sort of monster that they have to battle and that he's accidentally landed on. But if it was going to be a monster, hopefully, he's heavy enough to have killed it. 

He hears Woojin groan from underneath him. "Hyungseob, get off, you're heavy- hey! Stop patting me- no, really, stop!" Not a monster then. He rolls off Woojin and thumps to the ground. 

"Seongwoo?" He whispers, "Can you turn on a light or something?" He hears rustling. 

"Of course I can!" Comes the indignant reply. "Do you take me for an idiot of a witch?" He waits for a light but there's none. "I've nearly got it-" 

"Can't you light a fire?" Hyungseob asks after getting antsy in the dark. Woojin shuffles towards him and leans against his back. He knows it's Woojin because only he would smell this nice and stay calm enough to have a calming effect on Hyungseob even after taking a tumble in a musty old cave.

"There's no wood!" Seongwoo sounds impatient. "How do you light a fire with no wood?" 

"Oh my god." Daehwi says. "Are you a witch or not? You have magic - use it!" Daehwi snaps his fingers and there is a fireball centimeters away from Seongwoo's nose. 

"Careful with that thing," Seongwoo complains, "Too much heat is bad for the skin!" 

Daehwi wiggles the flames teasingly in Seongwoo's face, then tires of it and begins to use the fire to guide them. They creep along slowly. After a while, the suspense and pitch black darkness proves too hard for Hyungseob to handle and he slumps against the wall. There is a soft click, and then the area is flooded with bright light. Daehwi extinguishes his flames. In front of them is the maze they've been looking for. The hedge walls of the maze shift as Daehwi steps forward and Woojin spies a pair of black beady eyes staring back at him. 

"Oh!" Daehwi screams. "The hedges are made of green snakes!" He shudders. Daehwi has always hated snakes, like the High Council of MNET who invited the inhabitants of their Glen to a party, only to send King Donghyun and most of his subjects away in tears for no apparent reason. Mostly, it's the actual animals that he hates, but magical snakes are just about the  _worst_. You never know what properties their venom possesses. 

As they continue to stand in front of the maze, there is a sudden clinking sound from behind them. They all turn to look at the entranceway where they had come from; slowly padding out from the remaining shadows was a metal dog. Daehwi puts his hands on his knee and chirrups at it. They watch in horror as the metal dog begins to growl, metal parts rearranging and unfolding to reveal a monster of a dog the size of a car. 

"Daehwi, you idiot!" Seongwoo yells in horror, "You made it angry!"

Liquid begins to slowly drip from its mouth, the cave floor sizzling wherever the venom from the dog's jaw falls. Hyungseob shrieks and jumps onto Woojin, who immediately wraps his arms protectively around Hyungseob's waist, but he staggers at the sudden weight, trips over his shoelaces and ends up falling headfirst into the maze. Hyungseob falls on top of Woojin ("I'm getting a bit of déjà vu," Woojin mumbles) and he hauls Woojin to his feet as he rapidly backpedals further from the entrance to the maze, holding onto Woojin for dear life. "Woojinnie!" Hyungseob hollers, even though Woojin is literally right beside him, "If I die, just know that I treasure you a lot more than I should!"

The dog lumbers towards them menacingly, and Daehwi gulps. He isn't going to take any chances with killer metal dogs that could both crush him and melt him into a pile of liquid through poison. He turns to call for Seongwoo and tell him to dash for the labyrinth, but Seongwoo is already sprinting away after Woojin and Hyungseob as fast as his lanky legs can carry him. 

"Sorry Daehwi!" He calls over his shoulder. "But I know you would have done the same!" Daehwi would definitely not have done the same. 

Deciding to just burn Seongwoo's nose off later for abandoning him, Daehwi pivots around on his left foot and dashes into the maze, the metal dog's teeth clanking shut mere millimetres away from his arm. The dog chases after them and smashes into an invisible wall separating them. It gets a dent on its nose for its trouble and it lumbers away almost dejectedly. 

"We should get out of the maze and think things through," Seongwoo suggests to the group. There's no response. Daehwi is clearly shaken from nearly getting killed and Hyungseob and Woojin are still locked in each other's embrace, holding on to the other for dear life. Seongwoo sighs. He tries to walk out of the maze but he ends up bonking his forehead on the same invisible barrier that prevented the metal dog from killing all of them. He tries again. 

This time, he gets a bruise on his forehead. He turns to the trio who are still on the floor of the maze. "Okay, we can't get out, so we'll just have to move on." Seongwoo cranes his neck to see what lies ahead on the path. "There are four passageways, and this place is pretty echo-y. We'll each take one and reassemble here after about 100 paces. If anyone isn't back here in 10 minutes, we're going after them. Is that clear?" 

He gets a shaky nod from Woojin and a mumbled agreement from Hyungseob. Daehwi is still quaking in his spot on the floor, traumatised. Beads of cold sweat begin to form on his forehead. "I almost died," Daehwi whispers, "What else is there in this godforsaken maze?" 

Seongwoo pats him on the shoulder pityingly. There are many things he wants to say to Daehwi, like maybe reassure him that  _hey, at least you're still alive_ , or maybe  _if we don't succeed, everyone else will die_ , or even  _Daehwi, there are things you can't handle and it's okay to show signs of weakness._  

He doesn't say any of that. "Do you want a hug?" He opts to say, spreading his arms and readying himself to provide comfort to the youngest of their travelling team. 

Daehwi gives him a stink eye and promptly shoves a flaming middle finger in Seongwoo's face.

Seongwoo leaps back and surrenders, shaking his head with mirth. At least he knew Daehwi got his senses back about him. "Well then, since everyone is okay and not going through any crisises, let's get moving, shan't we? These passageways won't explore themselves!"


	6. VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Shut up, Hyungseob! Can you never shut up? You're always talking and bothering me, it's so annoying," Woojin spits unapologetically. "I can't stand you! You're always clinging onto me; sometimes I wish you would just go away and disappear!" 
> 
> Hyungseob gasps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly today's been the worst day ever since school started and it's not because of school

Today has been a really shitty day for Hyungseob. First, they bring him back to the castle where he has to plaster on a smile and pretend as if everything's okay, but it's really not because everyone he loves (save for Woojin) is frozen and whether they live or die all depends on him and whether he can succeed at what he does.

Then in order to save said loved ones, he has to wander about blindly in the dark. He hates the dark with a burning passion because he can't see anything at all and he hates the feeling of uncertainty, hates the way it feels familiar. He's uncertain about so many things: if he'll ever make as good a King as his parents, if he'll make it through this maze alive, if Woojin sees him the same way.

To top it all off, he nearly gets trampled to death by a raging metal dog that spills poison from its mouth that is highly corrosive and can burn off his entire face if he even so much as gets too close to the toxic fumes.

But this, oh, this really takes the cake.

Hyungseob pulls back his wounded finger and quickly sucks on it, wincing as he simultaneously feels the pain of an open wound and tastes the metallic tang of blood. He curses and rips off a bit of his cloak to tie around his finger. The last thing he needs is the smell of his fresh blood attracting any life-threatening creatures living in the maze. He's still too young to die and he absolutely cannot die at this particular moment.

As he feels the pull of sleep behind his eyelids, his barely coherent mind manages to wonder why he feels so lethargic, and he yawns, eyes finally sliding shut. His body falls to the ground with a resounding thud and he lies there, letting out soft snores.

 

* * * * *

 

Sometimes, Woojin feels like a fish out of water. He's always been the social reject, no one really liking him or able to understand him. This was mostly because of his speech, he had yet to fully master the dialect of his current village, and he spoke with the satoori of his hometown. People found him weird and generally stayed away.

Sometimes, he feels like a fish out of water with Hyungseob. These few days, they've visited the castle a few times to gather clues about the frozen time. Hyungseob always looks like he's in his element, Daehwi's fairy royalty and is used to such extravagance, and Seongwoo just takes everything in stride. Woojin though? He feels uncomfortable, slightly like he doesn't belong there.

Sometimes, Woojin wonders if his feelings will always be unreciprocated. Most people don't share his interests in being friends, and he was all alone until Hyungseob came along. Then, he had to go and fall for his only friend. Woojin fears that his feelings are merely an infatuation for the one person who paid him attention and showered him with the affection that he needed.

And sometimes, Woojin wonders if everything that happens to him is a mere coincidence. As he stares at his newly formed merman tail, he thinks that if so much crazy stuff can happen to him in the first 18 years of his life, maybe nothing is as coincidental as he thinks it is.

 

* * * * *

  
Daehwi's always had an issue with protection. His parents never let him go anywhere at all, confining him to the safety of the Fairy Glen. Now, don't get him wrong, he loves the quaint Glen. It's where he grew up, after all. It will always have a special place in his heart. But one can only take so much of a single place for 16 long years before one eventually grows sick of it all.

It's not his parent's fault that they're so protective of him. He knows that they have good intentions and that they love him and want only the best for him. He's the only child they have, and it was particularly hard convincing the High Council of MNET to allow them to have a chance at holding a small bundle of joy in their arms. Not to mention that he's a Fire Fairy, a kind that was believed to have been extinct until recent times when Daehwi was born.

Entering the maze makes him feel like he's returned to the restrictive youth again. Especially now. He presses his hands against the glass and frowns. Of course it would be him getting trapped in a gigantic hourglass with no way out, and sand slowly trickling in from above.

He taps at the glass despondently. Until he thinks of a good idea on how to get out, he's stuck in here. His hands immediately start to busy themselves by building small sandcastles.

  
* * * * *

 

Seongwoo knows that he's narcissistic.

Everyone has a defence mechanism; Woojin's is feigning ignorance, Hyungseob's is a death glare, and Daehwi's is fire - sarcasm and scalding words.

He has a defence mechanism too. And it's confidence.

Seongwoo tells himself to have confidence, and people won't point their fingers and laugh at him. If he believes in himself, others will too. So, he does. He holds his head up high with pride, ignoring the hushed whispers and jeering laughter of people who believe that he, an orphaned witch, will be nothing more than the dirt under their feet. He turns his nose up at them and hides the hurt behind a mask of self-confidence.

He begins to take pride in his looks. Because, at the heart of it all, he's nothing but a boy with exceptionally good looks and an ego bigger than the Pacific Ocean. There's nothing left for him to do but to build himself up through these two things that he's had since the day he found out that there was no one left in the world who could help him like he could help himself.

But he knows, that one day, his carefully built up pride will eventually be shattered and his good looks will fade, but what then? What then can he do?

He stares at the magical mirror in front of him. It's him in the mirror, but then, it's not. This Seongwoo has a weak look in his eyes, any confidence gone, and his skin sags, it's a pasty grey, his eyes are sunken, there is scarring down his jawline. The Seongwoo staring back at him with his face, his body, his everything- is vulnerable; Seongwoo finds that he cannot bear to look any longer.

The magic mirror does not let him go from the spell. It holds his gaze there, forcing him to see what will inevitably happen to him. Forcing the feelings of weakness and vulnerability to bubble up to the surface from where Seongwoo had so carefully and securely buried them.

Forcing him to face the reality that he never wanted.

  
* * * * *

More than ten minutes have passed since they all went on separate paths to try and find the rune hidden in the centre of the maze. None of them has returned, all fighting their own battle with inner demons they've tried to suppress and have managed to up till now. That's the magic of the maze; it seeks to bring you mental healing as you search for the Healing Rune. One's greatest enemy is never one's worst fear, it's oneself. Those who realise it and are able to save themselves from the trials the maze gives are worthy of the Healing Rune.

Woojin moves his tail around. It's quite hard to manoeuvre it, but with practice, it gets easier and Woojin lifts it with ease not more than five minutes later. He knows that he should have been at the meeting point by now, and that the others should rightfully be coming for him, but what if they were in trouble as well? Nothing ever came so easy, especially for Woojin.

Inner-Woojin asks, What would Daehwi do?

Woojin mulls over this. He would certainly flop on and try to make things more fun for himself. He would not let the strangeness of the situation overwhelm him, he'd just make the most of it.

"There's nothing much I can do, then," Woojin sighs as he flop-wriggles back down the path. If the others aren't going to come for him, he might as well go looking for them.

The task at hand proves to be daunting, especially when Woojin has to be ever so careful about bumping his tail into the hedges. He accidentally did it once and the tiny snakes sank their tiny fangs into his fin. He follows the trail he made earlier by dragging his feet through the dirt, slowly but steadily making his way back.

His arms give way just as he makes it to the meeting point. After this maze, he fully expects to have really toned arms. A stray strand of red ( _Red?_  Wasn't his hair brown?) hair flops into his eyes and he blows it away. He decides to wait for at least a minute or so to rest and give the others time to get back. If he's gotten himself into such a fishy situation, it's likely the rest are going to have similar problems and are definitely going to need more time getting back.

Knowing Hyungseob, he'll probably need some help getting back. Woojin picks himself off the ground with a groan and slowly drags himself through the pathway Hyungseob took. 

* * * * *

Hyungseob thinks he's asleep. Seonho and Guanlin whirl past him in a flurry of long limbs and hushed giggles. Definitely asleep. He's back at the castle and time has resumed, brushing past his shoulders unhurriedly. "Seob-ah," King Jung Jung calls. "We have something to show you." King Jung Jung rubs his cheek against King Eunki's lovingly.

Tears prick at the corners of Hyungseob's eyes. How long has it been since he's heard his parent's voices? A week? Or maybe three?

He runs at his parents and flings himself at them. "A-appa, Baba, I m-missed you both so much!" He sobs, shoulders sagging with relief. His voice comes out choked, but he's here,  _he's home_  and he can't care less. A hand smooths down his hair, but something feels strangely off about this gesture. It feels almost condescending, as if it's preparing him for a piece of news he's sure to be unable to handle.

"Seob-ah, we have something to tell you." King Eunki's voice is distant, strange and Hyungseob looks up with suspicion. "We don't think you'll ever be able to take the throne."  

The blood rushes to Hyungseob's head and he feels slightly dizzy. "What?" 

"You're a failure of a Prince, you won't ever be able to govern the Kingdom like your father and I do." King Jung Jung's voice is icy and cutting, and Hyungseob feels the pang of hurt deep in his chest. His Baba never spoke to him like that, even when he was being difficult, and he had never spoken words with such malicious intent to him before. Rejection hurts and failure is  _embarrassing_. Hyungseob feels like he's failed his parents and he trembles from head to toe with anxiety. What's he going to do now? He feels a hand on his shoulder. Whirling around, he stares straight into Woojin's eyes.

"Woojinnie, I-" 

"Shut  _up_ , Hyungseob! Can you never shut up? You're always talking and bothering me, it's so  _annoying_ ," Woojin spits unapologetically. "I can't stand you! You're always clinging onto me; sometimes I wish you would just go away and disappear!" 

Hyungseob gasps. The first tear falls but he can't find the strength to brush it away. Woojin's hurtful words shock him to the core and its like he's been doused with freezing water. Woojin glares impassively at him with stormy eyes, eyes that hold none of the usual adoration and warmth. Hyungseob sees his teary reflection staring back at him in Woojin's eyes and he asks himself how he'd even come to be so pathetic. "W-woojinnie-"

"Shut up,  _shut up!_ " Woojin presses the heels of his hands to his ears. "I don't want to hear you speak anymore! I don't understand why you're like this but I  _hate_ you and I hate your affection! You're sorely mistaken if you think that I love you, because I do no-" 

And Hyungseob wakes up to the real Woojin, hovering over him with worry in his eyes. "Seobbie?" Woojin says, "You were having a bad dream. Nothing more than that." He helps Hyungseob up. "Nothing more." 

Hyungseob trembles in Woojin's embrace and grabs Woojin's cheeks. "Am I annoying to you?" He stares straight into Woojin's eyes and sees worry and fondness reflected back at him. None of the loathing from his nightmare remains in Woojin's eyes and he can see that there's a clear distinction between his nightmare and reality, because Woojin's eyes tell him that he will always stay by Hyungseob and he will always return to Hyungseob from wherever he is.

"No," Woojin shifts, "You could never annoy me. In fact, you're the most fascinating person I've met."

"Even if I'm just boring old me?"

"Especially when you're you." Woojin hugs Hyungseob comfortingly. Hyungseob leans into Woojin's touch and savours the moment. 

"How did you know to find me?" Hyungseob asks a while later, eyes still closed. His hand reaches to pat Woojin's leg to grab his attention, but he touches cold scales instead of warm skin or fabric and his eyes fly open. "Woojinnie- what?" Hyungseob stares at the blue tail where he could have sworn Woojin's legs were about 10 minutes ago. His eyes travel upwards to Woojin's hair. "Your hair! It's red!" He can already feel the tips of his ears turning red,  _this is very bad_ , he hisses to himself,  _why does Woojin look so good in every colour?_

"You pricked your finger on a spindle," Woojin's unique laughter rings out, "And I got turned into a merman. I think this maze traps us in fairy tales until we can overcome them, with or without help." 

"I didn't do anything, and you're the only person here," Hyungseob knots his fingers together, "Then, what did you do?"

Woojin pointedly stares at the broken spindle in the corner and says nothing. He blushes to his hairline and slowly stutters out a response. "I tried everything," he mumbles, "but it didn't work. So I thought of how the Princess was woken up in the story, a-and-" 

  _Oh. OH._

Hyungseob turns beet red and gently brushes a finger against his lips. "Oh."


	7. VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm a fairy, not a pixie, Seongwoo."
> 
> "Fairy dust, Pixie dust, what's the difference?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im trying to make the sad go by faster so we can make our protagonists closer and funnier than ever

By the time Daehwi has thought of something to do to get out of his prison ( _temporary prison_ , his mind corrects) the sand has already piled up to his hips and he has constructed seven beautiful sandcastles.

He goes ahead with his plan and places his right palm against the cool glass, concentrating. He heats up his palm and feels the glass of the hourglass turn hot under his touch. An immature part of him giggles, but he pays it no heed. He continues to heat up the glass until it slowly expands, and judging by the thickness of the glass, it wouldn't be long until-

The glass chinks as a thin, jagged crack runs down the surface of the glass. Good thing he paid attention in Fairy School ( _Thanks,_ _Teacher_ _Jisung_ ). He reaches his hand back and punches the glass again and again until it gives way and shatters, sand spilling out like a tidal wave. Daehwi calmly rides it down and settles on the maze. It's been a while since he magically got trapped in an hourglass, and it's time to return. He wipes his bloody knuckle on his shirt and flicks out a tiny shard of glass as he turns around and follows the trail of snakes with third-degree burns on them. His wounds won't take long to heal.

He arrives to an awkward silence between Hyungseob and Woojin. The unusual frosty tension in the air distracts him from the fact that Woojin has magically become half-fish and still managed to drag himself to their meeting point, then go find Hyungseob and help him, and finally get the both of them back to the gathering point. Seongwoo has still not returned, so he's stuck third-wheeling the two of them. He sighs. Hasn't he already gone through a trial? "Must I really go through this?" He groans out loud.

"It's a test," Hyungseob replies, back turned on Woojin, "whatever it is, you're being tested."

"The only thing that's being tested is my patience," Daehwi whines. He slaps a hand over his eyes. "Hyungseob, your ears are red as fuck, what's up?" ( _Language!_ The voice of Fairy King Youngmin chides in his head. _You're still a child!_ ) An unfitting smirk spreads across his face. "Oh, I get it. Trouble in paradise?"

"Shut it!" Woojin hisses and Hyungseob flinches. "Oh, sorry Seobbie." Daehwi rolls his eyes at how Woojin's voice softens when he directly addresses Hyungseob and how his cheeks tint a slight pink. He is more Whipped™ for Hyungseob than Seongwoo is for his own face.

"Oh, sorry Seobbie," Daehwi imitates in a falsetto that clearly does not match Woojin's low timbre, "Want me to kiss it better?"

Woojin's mouth opens, then closes, blood rising to his face as he turns away from Daehwi, blushing furiously. Hyungseob is no better, facing away from Woojin and slowly sliding away from him. Everything falls into place and Daehwi's eyebrows disappear into his hair. Oh, these two oblivious idiots. When will the pining end? Daehwi loops his arms under Woojin's armpits and tugs him aside.

Woojin is roughly dumped on the ground and he shifts to one side, rubbing his bottom. A round, blunt stone is digging into his fins and he hates it. Daehwi grabs him before he can remove the stone.

"What happened?" Daehwi stage-whispers. "Did you molest him or something?"

Woojin groans and buries his face in his hands. "I might as well have." He gulps. "I k-kissed him."

"What?!" Daehwi nearly wails, "That's what you're upset about? Do you hate him? Is that why the idea of kissing Hyungseob is repulsive to you?"

"No!" Woojin bursts out. "Why would you think... that I... no..." A fierce blush settles on his cheeks. "I like kissing Hyungseob."

Daehwi can make out Hyungseob not-so-discreetly eavesdropping on their conversation by now and decides that if this doesn't end, he'll never get peace of mind. So he begins to nudge Woojin in the right direction. "From the way you're acting right now, it seems like you hate the idea of being with him very much. So what's the problem? If you like Hyungseob so much, what's holding you back?"

Woojin sighs. He does that a lot lately. "I don't want to force him into returning my feelings because he feels bad, and I don't want our friendship to change. It's so beautiful now, I'm content with just waiting and watching him. What's a year or ten when it comes to the person you love?"

Daehwi wipes an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye and sniffles. "You two are going to be the death of me." He stares over Woojin's shoulder. "Hyungseob, you aren't as inconspicuous as you think, you know."

Hyungseob sends a scandalised look towards Daehwi as Woojin turns around in shock. "Were you listening to us?" Woojin asks, voice gentle.

"Well," Hyungseob scuffs his shoe on the ground, "I would be lying if I said no." He looks at Woojin. "You should have just told me how you feel," Hyungseob says, walking forward to grab Woojin's hands. He interlocks their fingers. "I would have told you, that I feel the same way."

"I was scared that you wouldn't love me back and I would lose the one person I've always wanted to keep by my side." Woojin confesses, and he smiles, showing off the snaggletooth that Hyungseob loves so much. "But, you won't leave me now, if I said that I like you?"

Hyungseob leans forwards and nuzzles Woojin with his nose. "I'd leave you if you said that you didn't."

The corners of Woojin's mouth lift and he leans forward to shyly peck Hyungseob on the lips. They break apart giggling to themselves. The scene is so cute and so sweet, Daehwi thinks he's going to get a cavity soon.

"Daehwi, do you have any advice for me?" Seongwoo's voice carries over as he walks to them. Daehwi gracefully swivels to look at Seongwoo and laughs out loud. The hilarity of the situation lies in the huge mirror that trails after him, bumping into the hedges and, occasionally, Seongwoo's legs. "Your parents built this maze with their magic, you should be able to offer me some help."

Seongwoo looks normal, but a haunted look lingers in his expression. Daehwi cannot understand why it is that Seongwoo would hate a mirror since it reflects his face back at him, the one thing that he openly admits to caring for. Then, he catches sight of Seongwoo's reaction and his giggles stop abruptly.

The Seongwoo that stares back at him from the mirror is vastly different from the real one. Daehwi doesn't quite know why, but his heart aches as he catches sight of the lonely, desolate look that Seongwoo's reflection wears, and the flaws on his skin are those that Seongwoo will never allow himself to have. It is something that Daehwi would never have imagined but yet is right in front of his very eyes. "I-" Daehwi's voice catches in his throat, "I don't know. I think I've heard something about it before but-"

The carefully constructed façade crumbles.

"Please help me," Seongwoo whimpers, "I can't stand it anymore!" He tugs at his hair in a fit of hysterics, making the unruly mess even worse. "I can't bear to even look at it." Something in Woojin's brain clicks and he suddenly understands how the maze works. It draws out your insecurities and brings them to life in front of your eyes, and the only way to the Healing Rune is if you experience a form of healing; a loss of an insecurity that haunts you. He carefully detaches himself from Hyungseob's embrace. Flopping over, he pulls Seongwoo down to eye-level.

"Hyung," He says, "Look at me. What do you see in the mirror?"

Seongwoo's eyes dart about wildly. "I c-can't say, Woojin, don't make me-!"

"Hyung!" Woojin repeats sternly, "Describe him to me. The person you see in the mirror."

Seongwoo takes a shuddering breath. "I see a failure." A tear slips down unbidden. "I see someone vulnerable, who doesn't even have beauty or the courage to continue keeping his head held high. I see the orphan witch that everybody said would never be able to do magic, losing his grasp on his magic." The tears soak Woojin's shirt, but he continues to hold Seongwoo. "I see me." Seongwoo coughs, using the back of his hand to wipe away his tears.

Woojin waits until he has calmed down before speaking up. "The person you see in the mirror, is different from me," he whispers for Seongwoo to hear. "I see someone strong. He's been through so much but he's still here and he's still trying. In his eyes, I don't see vulnerability, I see a determination to continue forward. His pride burns bright in the way he holds himself." Woojin pauses, letting his words sink in. "I see someone, surrounded by people who care. Someone who has others by his side who he can call upon for help, who believe in him."

Daehwi sits beside Woojin and silently holds onto Seongwoo's hand, giving him support. Hyungseob crawls over and sits on his other side. "You have us, Seongwoo. I don't know what you've been through, but we'll always be here for you. No matter what."

Seongwoo hiccups and buries his face into Woojin's shoulder and breathes. Maybe it's the magic of the maze, but he can slightly smell the scent of the sea lingering on Woojin's clothes. "Okay," he mutters, "I won't let him get to me. Not now, not ever." He forces his gaze upwards and looks straight at his reflection.

Seongwoo searches for the strength that Woojin says is there, and finally, spots it in the squaring of his shoulders, his chin held high and the firm look in his eyes. "You don't bother me," he tells his reflection. "Go away."

Then, his reflection ripples, and Seongwoo suddenly sees himself as he knows himself to be but with an additional healthy glow to his face. He huffs in relief as a watery smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "Thanks, guys."

Woojin grins. "Any time." Then, "I did mean it when I said that you had us. You're stuck with me now."

"And where Woojinnie goes, I go!" Hyungseob chirps, leaning into Woojin who gently rubs his shoulder against Hyungseob's.

All their heads turn to face Daehwi, who puts his hands up and turns slightly pink. "Yeah, yeah," he pouts, "me too." The grass between his fingers catches fire as the blush in his cheeks grow stronger. "You won't catch me saying that again, so remember it."

They sigh together and rest there for a bit, until Hyungseob's hand brushes against Woojin's dry fins and he gasps. "Woojinnie, do you need water?"

Woojin grimaces as he tries to move his tail. "It's currently a bit stiff," he explains, "But we don't have water..?"

Daehwi glances at Seongwoo and clears his throat. Seongwoo plucks up his courage and moves forward. "I'll try, but don't expect much," He warns. "I'm not that good of a witch, the only strong piece of magic I've ever done was with potions, and I still don't know how to fix it."

Woojin hums and motions for Seongwoo to continue. "I trust that you can do it," Woojin coaxes, "Just believe in yourself."

Seongwoo concentrates hard, summoning the magic buried within him beneath doubts and lets it flow forth from his fingertips. Soon, a glass materialises in Woojin's open palm and water fills it slowly. He lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding and grins.

"You did it!" Hyungseob claps happily. Woojin douses the entire length of his tail in the water and his tail immediately shimmers in the bright sunlight beating down upon them.

"Where should we go now?" Daehwi inquires. "We know that all the paths led us to our nightmares, so does that mean that every path leads to the centre?"

"I think," Seongwoo begins hesitantly, "that the rune might be down the path Woojin took." Everyone regards him with different expressions: Woojin's look of confusion, Hyungseob's (who has also guessed it) look of agreement and Daehwi's "have-you-lost-your-marbles" look. "He's the only one who hasn't broken the spell, and I'm sure it's not a true love thing or he would be back to normal by now." He justifies, pointing to Woojin's teal tail. "What if we need the Healing Rune to bring him back to normal?"

Just then, the snake-hedges began to move, shuffling the pathways around as they form a circle around them. The previous four passageways they had travelled down disappear as the circle closes up, leaving them with no way out.

"Am I dreaming again," Hyungseob says slowly, "Or are we trapped in here without any way out?"

Daehwi lets out a noise akin to a dying cow.

* * * * *

"How are we supposed to find anything?" Daehwi grumbles as he hunts around on all fours. "I honestly don't know what the Rune looks like." 

"We'll definitely find it," Seongwoo affirms, "We have me. What could possibly go wrong with me around?" 

Daehwi stares at Seongwoo. "I don't think you want me to answer that, hyung." 

Woojin stays put where he was earlier, occasionally shifting his tail fin so that Hyungseob can look under it for the rune or anything resembling it, and his butt is slowly beocming sore from sitting on the lumpy ground. He sort of wishes that his tail would be gone so that he can help them look for the Rune so he can make himself useful with whatever he can do to help. 

There is a sudden pop as his tail is ripped apart, forming two legs. Woojin sits back, stunned. 

Hyungseob rushes to Woojin's side. "What happened? Are you okay?" 

Woojin wriggles his toes. "Better now that I have my feet back."

Seongwoo whistles lowly. "Yah, Woojin, you didn't tell me you could use magic." 

"I can't!" Woojin gawks. "I still don't know what's going on!" He gestures wildly. "All I did was wish for my legs to get better so that I could help-!" 

He is cut off by Daehwi placing his hands on his shoulders and shoving him aside,  _hard_. He topples over on his side, arms flailing as Daehwi reaches down and picks up the same round stone that _he's been sitting on for the past hour_. "I found it," Daehwi says triumphantly. "I found the rune!" 

Woojin gapes. "That's the rune?" He looks on his thigh. The intricate markings on the rune have been pressed into his skin from the pressure he had applied onto it. He traces them with a finger incredulously. 

Hyungseob bounces around with excitement. "Well, we've got what we wanted, then how do we get out of here?" Seongwoo looks doubtfully around the at the hedges surrounding them which show no signs of movement.

Seongwoo looks doubtfully around the at the hedges surrounding them which show no signs of movement. "Definitely not through any of these." 

Woojin snorts."At this rate, we might have to fly out." At Daehwi's serious look, his eyes widen. "Guys, that's a joke, we're not going to fly out!" 

"That just might work," Daehwi states contemplatively, casting his eyes on the ground thoughtfully. "But how do we fly out?" 

"This is insane." Woojin lays a hand over his eyes. "Since we're already thinking of ridiculous solutions, why not let me add one more: use faith, trust and pixie dust." He makes jazz hands sarcastically. 

Hyungseob grips Woojin's shoulders and plants a passionate kiss on his mouth. "You're a genius!" He spins away happily as Woojin goes red and sighs in happiness, ceasing his grumbling.

"Where do we even find a pixie? I doubt this maze even has any." Daehwi complains. Seongwoo turns to look at him slowly, a smile spreading on his face. Daehwi does not like the look of it. "What?"

"You can fly." 

"Your point? I'm a fairy, not a pixie, Seongwoo."

"Fairy dust, Pixie dust, what's the difference?" Seongwoo shrugs nonchalantly. "Still worth a try." 

Daehwi tries his very best to keep calm and not slap him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much @Sehuns_bag_of_Lays!! that was an embarrassing mistake  
> got it corrected now


	8. VIII

They do eventually fly out with Daehwi's help since he managed to snatch a pixie from the hedges (apparently, they tend to the snakes and take care of their well-being and gave Daehwi hell for sending an eighth of them to early graves after giving them fourth-degree burns).

They arrive at the castle all in one piece, despite the various mishaps along the way that involved a cow, a well, a rainbow and three mischievous leprechauns.

"I'm going to wake the whole castle up," Daehwi says, waggling the rune in all their faces, "I found it so I'm going to have the honours."

Hyungseob looks like he wants to protest but quickly decides against it and chooses to lean against Woojin instead. "It's not fair," he says to Woojin dramatically, "I started this expedition." He lays a hand over his forehead. "Without me, he would be nothing."

"The world is never fair," Seongwoo says, chewing on some bread that they had stolen again from Baker Taehyun (again, sorry), "I'm stuck with this face, such talent, magic, riches, popularity - I have it all. The world really isn't fair."

Used to Seongwoo's prideful antics, the trio laughs together while slowly walking into the castle behind Daehwi, who has already begun excitedly singing a song to welcome Samuel once he's unfrozen. Then, Daehwi starts screaming and the entire North Wing of the castle goes up in flames. Seongwoo is dispatched to the area to put out the fire, having already confirmed for themselves that he can at least produce water, and Hyungseob and Woojin rush to Daehwi's aid. Hyungseob sort of wishes that Daehwi has fallen into a well again for different reasons (mostly for shits and giggles). 

Hyungseob scrambles into the throne room while Woojin careens into the wall right beside the open door. Hyungseob doubles back to retrieve his boyfriend (a term that Hyungseob delights in) and hurriedly wipes the blood away from the small cut he's sustained. When Woojin moves in, he's definitely going to have to baby-proof the entire castle. In the wise words of Uncle Donghan, marriage before death. 

Though, maybe Uncle Donghan isn't the best person to trust about this because something is extremely sketchy about 5 wealthy husbands disappearing into thin air with the exact same circumstances. 

"Woojin," Daehwi shrills, "How do you work this thing?" He shakes the Rune violently. "Do you just wish on it? Because I've done that, but it doesn't work!" 

Seongwoo groans upon arrival. "I  _knew_ it wouldn't work!" 

Daehwi turns on Seongwoo. "And you didn't say a thing?" 

"I wasn't sure if my magic was  _that_ strong!" 

"Wait," Hyungseob says, holding up one hand, "Your magic? You caused time to freeze?" 

Seongwoo shifts uncomfortably. "Not on purpose! I would never do it on purpose! I just accidentally knocked into my entire shelf of potion ingredients and the next thing I know, time has frozen and it's all because of me!" 

Woojin shuffles over to Daehwi and Hyungseob. "Honestly," he says, stifling a laugh, "It was only a matter of time before something like this happened." 

Hyungseob smiles. "He's right, Seongwoo hyung, you're pretty much a mess." 

"At least I'm a hot mess." Seongwoo grumbles, affronted. 

"I don't get it," Woojin takes the rune from Daehwi. "Why doesn't it work?" 

Daehwi crosses his arms. "First off, we're dealing with something from a potion. The only thing that can neutralise a potion and stop its effects is a reversal potion. Only after that can we begin to think about using a rune to undo whatever's already been done." He begins to pace the room. "Another thing I've noticed is that the frozen time is getting stronger. Earlier, before I tried to activate it, I noticed that Samuel's arm had moved slightly. Time wasn't frozen before this, it was slowed down." Daehwi presses his right hand around the rune, heating it up to a bright orange before tucking it into his pants pocket. 

"The rune operates on energy," Seongwoo whispers in awe, "The potion must be absorbing the energy and using it to strengthen its effects." 

"How did you even cause it to spread over such a large area, anyway?" Daehwi turns to Seongwoo. "Potions are usually contained to a single person who it is used on." 

"There was an explosion," Seongwoo says dismissively. "My good looks were very nearly lost to the world." 

"What do we do now?" Woojin inquires. Daehwi falls silent and Seongwoo looks away. "You two are the only ones with magical abilities. Hyungseob and I are just here for the ride." 

Daehwi snaps his fingers after 5 minutes of awkward silence. "A counter-potion!" Woojin pales at the mention of brewing a potion, mind having a flashback to the painful boils around his eye that came from the last time he'd encountered a potion. Daehwi motions to Seongwoo. "What exactly went into your cauldron that day?" 

Seongwoo wrinkles his nose. "The standard ingredients for a love potion, two drops of pure Hate, one pinch of powdered Betrayal and the ash from a Forestfyre. Oh, the Draught of Eternal Sleep. Then, everything else on my shelf." He pauses. "I should mention that it was brewing for about, 8 months?" 

"How did you even get pure Hate, I'm not even sure that exists." Daehwi deadpans, shoulders slumping. 

Seongwoo stares back intensely. "Lemon juice; need I say more?" 

"Do you know what happens to counter all that, then, and where to find it?" Hyungseob pipes up. "We need to finish this potion as soon as possible, for the sake of my family." 

"And Samuel." 

"Yes, Samuel too." 

Seongwoo thinks. "For potions, it's usually an ingredient hailing from the element directly contrasting the particular ingredient you want to neutralise. For example, Forestfyre ash would be countered by a Frost Flower." 

Daehwi presses his lips together, deep in thought. "We have to leave now if we want to get the moonbeams. The moon is full and it won't be full to the extent where we can collect moonbeams for another 200 years. Seongwoo hyung and I will still be around then, but, you two, I'm not too sure." He casts his gaze to the ground. "I don't want to go on this mission without the both of you." Daehwi mutters, shyly peeking out at Hyungseob and Woojin through his bangs. 

Hyungseob and Woojin begin to smile at Daehwi with expressions of such extreme fondness that Daehwi begins to back away in alarm. "Aww, Daehwi cares about us?" Hyungseob coos adoringly. 

Woojin nods. "Sounds like he's asking for us to reciprocate his feelings!" They swoop in at the same time, trapping Daehwi between their bodies as they hug the life out of him. They look to Seongwoo at the same time, Hyungseob and Woojin's expressions conveying mischief whereas Daehwi's is a silent cry for help. 

"Ah, what the heck." Seongwoo shrugs and jumps on top of the younger three, squishing them under his body. "This is nice," he says. "We still have to harvest the moonbeams, though, so I'm giving us 5 minutes."

Daehwi groans from the bottom of the impromptu dog pile. "You are the absolute _worst_ , Seongwoo hyung!"  

* * * * *

Woojin likes it when Hyungseob sticks close to him. He's particularly happy right now that Hyungseob is practically leaning across him, trying to find the highest vantage point in the kingdom. "I think we should do it on this hill." Woojin cranes his neck to try and see what Hyungseob is talking about. 

"Are you sure?" He asks doubtfully as soon as he's confirmed which hill Hyungseob is talking about. "If we're talking about that hill, then maybe it's not such a good idea." 

Daehwi gives him an affronted look. "What's wrong with that hill, I think it's actually a really good idea!" 

"Last time I checked, another witch lives there." Woojin replies. "I'm not too sure if he would take kindly to other people going onto his property and harvesting his moonbeams." 

"We'll ask him for it," Seongwoo waves a hand in the air, "No biggie. I'm sure he's nice enough to give us some." 

As it turns out, the witch, Bae Jinyoung, is not nice enough to give them passage on his property. In fact, he gives Hyungseob a once over, pulls a face, and slams the door shut in their faces. 

Hyungseob turns beet red with embarrassment and indignation. "You didn't tell me that it was Bae Jinyoung living on this hill!" He splutters at Woojin. "What kind of boyfriend are you?" 

"A really good one," protests Woojin, "I did warn you!" 

Hyungseob's bottom lip trembles and Woojin's words die in his throat. "But, you didn't tell me it was _Bae Jinyoung_!" 

"I heard my name." Four heads whip around in unison to see Bae Jinyoung leaning on the doorpost. He stalks over to them cautiously, scrutinising them. When his eyes land on Seongwoo, they widen to the size of golf balls. "Ong!" 

"Bae?" Seongwoo is shocked. "What are you doing here?" 

Jinyoung smiles and his entire demeanour changes from 0-100 really quick. "Ongie hyung, this is my house! Apparently I have an affinity for the dark magics, so I came here to have a constant supply of moonbeams! Even if it isn't the harvesting season, there is at least enough to have a single dose of moonbeams per week." His eyes form tiny crescent moons. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, hyung!" 

Seongwoo nods dumbly. The other three stare at him and Jinyoung as if he's grown another head. "Seongwoo hyung," Hyungseob starts, "Do you know him?" Jinyoung turns starry eyes on Seongwoo and Seongwoo can only nod again. 

"Guys, this is Baejin, my junior in Witch School." Seongwoo introduces, pushing Jinyoung forward a little bit. Daehwi, who on some days has zero idea of the concept of personal space, immediately moves to invade Jinyoung's personal space. 

"Hi, I'm Daehwi," he chatters, "We have to grab some moonbeams, do you happen to have any with you?" 

Jinyoung looks a little startled at having a faceful of Daehwi literally seconds after they just met and he  _slammed a door_ in his face. "Uh, I mean sure?" He waffles, "I'm getting some tonight anyway, you might as well get some for yourself." He blinks at the four who surround him. "Why do you need moonbeams anyway?" 

Hyungseob and Woojin burst out laughing at the same time while Daehwi just looks mildly amused. Seongwoo groans. "Not this again." 

Daehwi leans in and whispers, "Seongwoo hyung messed up a potion, froze time and here we are trying to clean up after him." 

"I can hear you, you know! I'm right here!" 

Jinyoung blinks owlishly. "That's it?" 

"What do you mean, that's it? Is it not quite serious for you?" Woojin asks, tilting his head to one side like a confused puppy. Hyungseob squishes Woojin's cheeks together affectionately and gives him a kiss. 

Jinyoung scrunches up his nose at the open display of love. "Well," he sneaks a quick glance at Seongwoo, "Nothing beats having the entire school under a love spell for an entire year because the effects of his reversal potion were too slow to have any immediate effects." Jinyoung smiles a little at the memory. "I was already in love then, so I wasn't affected. And he doesn't go to my school so I had no worries about him falling for Seongwoo hyung instead." 

Hyungseob raises an eyebrow. "He was really sad when you left him," he says simply, "Do you know how many nights I had to spend at the castle, comforting him?" 

Guilt curls in Jinyoung's belly. He bites his lip. "I'm sorry, I had no choice. I was holding him back by staying. It was only going to hurt him." 

Hyungseob's gaze is uncharacteristically stony. "Did you ask him about his opinion on the matter? Did he say that you were holding him back?" He walks up to Jinyoung. "You don't understand the pain of having to hold your best friend as he sobs into your shoulder about how inadequate he feels. So many suitors, but his heart belongs to someone who doesn't deserve it. It still does." Hyungseob steps back into Woojin's comforting embrace. "I hate you for hurting him so much." 

A tear falls. "I didn't mean to hurt him." 

Hyungseob nods. "I know, so when this is all over, just apologise to him." He scoffs. "If it were me, I wouldn't let you back in. But this is _Park Jihoon_ we're talking about, he's always been waiting for you to return to him." 

Jinyoung nods tearfully. "Okay, I will. I'll make it up to him. And to you too." 

* * * * *

They gather in Jinyoung's house and sink down into plush pillows gratefully. Woojin nudges at Hyungseob until he opens an eye to look at him. "What?" 

"Turn over," Woojin coaxes, "I'll give you a massage." Hyungseob flips around and lets Woojin's nimble hands work wonders on smoothing out the aches and cricks in his back. 

"How are you not tired?" Hyungseob asks, puzzled. "You're literally the same every time I see you." 

Woojin laughs quietly. "I'm not a palace kid; I'm used to some hard labour."

"Oh." 

Jinyoung walks over balancing some cookies on a tray. "They're made with  _Sana Medeor_ , a revitalising plant," he explains, "It'll help soothe your aches." They each take one gratefully and begin to munch on them thoughtfully. 

"Jinyoung, you can make potions, right?" Seongwoo asks, spewing cookie crumbs everywhere. Jinyoung ignores it. 

"Yeah, why?" Jinyoung pauses. "Wait, don't answer that. Reversal potion?"  

Daehwi hums his agreement. He swallows the mouthful of cookies in his mouth. "We're not too sure what went into the potion, though, except for the ingredients of a standard love potion, Pure Hate and Betrayal, and everything else on his shelves."  

Jinyoung thinks for a moment. "Nothing much then," he muses, "All potion ingredients that Seongwoo hyung had came from me, since he's too lazy to collect any himself."  

"Don't slander me while I'm  _right here_." Seongwoo snaps, all bark and no bite. "It's not nice." 

"You're not nice, hyung," Jinyoung retorts, and goes back to his conversation with Daehwi. "If I remember correctly, there should have been some liquid sun in there, I sent him some while clearing my stores. I'm pretty sure I sent him some rarer ingredients? Like the toxic breath of a Demon of Suffering." Daehwi's breath hitches. The breath of a Demon of Suffering? 

Oh, you have got to be kidding.

"Jinyoung, isn't that, like illegal?" 

He nods. "That's why it's rare." Duh, Daehwi. 

"I think I learnt something about this in my classes," Hyungseob butts in, "Isn't unicorn blood the only counteragent?" 

Jinyoung's jaw drops in realisation and Seongwoo whistles. "What a sticky situation we've found ourselves in." He says, reaching for his fifth cookie, "Unicorn blood has to be the hardest thing to obtain in these parts. Believe me, I've tried." 

"I might have some left in store," Jinyoung says, going to rummage through a glass cupboard and disregarding Daehwi's scandalised shriek, "Don't get your hopes up, though. More accidents happen here than you know."

Woojin stops Seongwoo just as he goes for his seventh cookie. "Hyung, stop, please. You're looking a bit too shiny already." 

"Oh yeah, unfortunate side effect of the  _Sana Medeor_ ," Jinyoung says brightly, "You light up like a driveway in Christmas when consumed in large enough quantities." His tone is flippant and suggests that it's a minor inconvenience, but as Woojin carefully shields both his and Hyungseob's eyes from the blinding light that Seongwoo is emitting, he thinks that a minor inconvenience is a big understatement.

Out of the blue, a realisation strikes Jinyoung like lightning. He stands up, clutching a half-filled bottle of silvery unicorn blood. "Did you mention Pure Hate and Betrayal earlier as one of the things that went into Seongwoo hyung's cauldron?" 

Daehwi frowns. "Yeah, why?" 

Jinyoung shakes his head in defeat. "You're going to need a miracle for that one, or an extreme instance of true love." He places the bottle of unicorn blood into a satchel and holds it out to Woojin. "You're all screwed." 

"You should be a little more positive," Hyungseob chastises and Jinyoung heaves a sigh of relief; if Hyungseob is feeling up to playfully joke with him like that, he's making progress in obtaining forgiveness. Baby steps, but steps in the right direction nonetheless. 

"Fine, I'm positive that you are all going to have a very hard time." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> minhyun's teaser was cute i loved both songs ok i will replay the songs on loop


	9. IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Beedlebug accidentally wanders too close and flies straight into Daehwi's open mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as i wrote this the comment count hit 101 and i just sat there and laughed for a good 10 minutes

"That's still very negative," Daehwi says petulantly. "It's not helping."

"Speaking of helping," Jinyoung plasters on a saccharine smile as he passes a metal bucket to Woojin, "Why don't you guys help me harvest some  _Terra Tellus_ from the side of the hill? It helps attract Beedlebugs." 

"Might as well ask us to get dihydrogen monoxide while you're at it," Seongwoo snorts, "You and your posh self."

"Only for you," Jinyoung winks jokingly and busies himself with preparing the glass jars for the moonbeam collection. "Try to grab some Beedlebugs while you're at it!" He yells over his shoulder as Woojin turns the doorknob.  

"What's  _Terra Tellus_?" Hyungseob asks as they move out of the house. Seongwoo grins like a Cheshire Cat and nudges Daehwi, who looks like he's on the verge of bursting out laughing.

"Did you never learn it in your classes?  _Terra Tellus_ is basically dirt!" Daehwi chokes on his own spit, coughing and rolling around laughing. He clutches at his stomach and wheezes for air. A Beedlebug accidentally wanders too close and flies straight into Daehwi's mouth and he's suddenly coughing for an entirely different reason. His entire right side goes up in brilliant orange flames as he sputters and tries to expel the poor Beedlebug from his windpipe.

"Have you ever wondered," Hyungseob whispers discreetly to Woojin, "why does Daehwi only ever flare up on his right side?" 

Woojin shrugs. "Might be something that happened as he grew up." He pulls back his lip to show his snaggletooth. "Like this," he says, "I didn't want to get it fixed because I was scared it would hurt. But now, I sort of regret it." He blushes. "It's slightly embarrassing."

Hyungseob shakes his head and plants a kiss square on Woojin's mouth. "I like your snaggletooth, it's cute." He musses Woojin's hair. "In fact, I think it's the best thing about you." 

"Do you think Jinyoung would mind a roasted Beedlebug?" Daehwi rasps as he holds up the corpse of the lone Beedlebug, having successfully hacked it out. 

Seongwoo clears his throat. "Beedlebugs have to be roasted, then chewed to enhance the consumer's power." He watches Daehwi shift his flaming hand around, tiny wisps of fire floating to the ground and getting put out before it touches the dirt. "Please turn your fire off, it's scaring the Beedlebugs into hiding." 

Daehwi tries valiantly. "Wait," he says, shaking his hand up and down, "I can't do it!" He begins to hop around. "The fire's not going out!" 

As it turns out, when Daehwi's powers are "enhanced", it really just means "uncontrollable". They wait patiently (read: Hyungseob, Woojin and Seongwoo wait patiently, Daehwi complains) for about an hour, and Daehwi's powers return to normal. They manage to catch some Beedlebugs for Jinyoung to show that their trip was not entirely in vain, and Jinyoung frowns at the lone roasted one on top of the pile. 

He picks it up. "Hey, what happened to this one?" 

"Nothing!" Daehwi bursts out before anyone can say anything and silently charms their mouths shut. "Nothing happened." He lets out a nervous laugh and while Jinyoung still looks unconvinced, he lets it slide wordlessly. Or maybe that just was Jinyoung being Jinyoung.

* * * * *

At the stroke of midnight, they're all awoken by Jinyoung and they blindly grab onto glass jars and stumble out onto the ledge that he always uses to collect moonbeams. Hyungseob leans into Woojin as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. "Can't I just go back to sleep?" He mumbles against Woojin's broad chest, yawning. Daehwi is already sitting on the floor, fast asleep. Seongwoo is half awake and mumbling nonsense, mostly about how good-looking he is. Woojin is dozing against Hyungseob's head, arms fastening a quilt around them tightly. 

"Amateurs," Jinyoung scoffs. "How are you going to save the world when you can't even sacrifice some sleep?" 

Woojin blearily opens one eye. "Saving the world? What is that? Is it edible?" He rests his chin comfortably on the top of Hyungseob's head. "I only know sleep and Hyungseob's comforting embrace." 

However, Daehwi jolts awake at the word 'amateurs' as if he's been burned. "I'm not an amateur!" He scolds, "I'll collect moonbeams so well you'll be begging for my help!" 

Jinyoung shakes his head in amusement, knowing that Daehwi definitely cannot live up to his promise. He busies himself with screwing open the glass jars and periodically checking the condition of the moon. "Daehwi, if you're going to prove me wrong, you might as well help me bring these jars out!" There's no response and Jinyoung furrows his eyebrows. He sticks his head out. "Daehwi!" 

He is greeted with the sight of a large cuddle pile on his balcony, which is definitely not built big enough for three, let alone four. It's big enough for two, because he had hoped that he would be able to introduce magic to Jihoon one day. Seongwoo's legs are fitted through the gaps of the railing and they dangle dangerously off the top of the mountain, the only reason why he isn't currently sliding down and falling to his death being Daehwi, who has an iron grip on his head. Hyungseob and Woojin are wrapped up in each other, limbs entangled as they slumber on peacefully. He shakes his head and decides that they would make a good perch for his glasses. 

He silently enchants them to stay in their positions for at least half an hour as he carefully stacks the jars on the flat surfaces available on the balcony, including the extra ones created by the strange positions the others have assumed. He carefully takes out a small necklace with an empty glass heart at the end and sets it out on the highest point. 

He collapses in a chair and waits.

When the moon finally reaches its brightest, it's time for Jinyoung to perform the spell that turns light into matter. Popping a freshly roasted Beedlebug into his mouth, he chews slowly, then whispers a few words as he draws his wand and outlines a rune on the balcony. As the moonlight hits the rune, it bounces off into different directions as a silvery mist, swirling around Jinyoung as he quickly moves to contain it. His wand glows at the tip as he guides the moonbeams into the glass jars, magically sealing them shut. Finally, he walks to the glass heart and presses a small kiss to its surface. It grows warm when Jinyoung mutters a small protection charm into it.

Letting it dangle off the edge of the balcony, he fills it up with the remaining moonbeams and seals it shut, holding it up to the moon. "I know I've done him wrong," Jinyoung whispers to the moon, "but, please help me decorate this locket so that it shines bright and beautiful so that I can show him how much he really means to it." At first, nothing happens and Jinyoung droops. His actions must have hurt Jihoon so much that even the moon refuses to offer assistance. 

Then, a single star, bright and beautiful floats down in front of Jinyoung's face. It circles him for a few heartbeats, before placing itself in his pocket over his heart. Another star separates from its brothers and shrinks to fit the locket and Jinyoung lets it rotate for a bit. This is the most beautiful thing he's made with his magic and he looks to the moon to thank it. He reaches a hand into his pocket to retrieve the star and pulls out an identical necklace to the one he's made in his hand. He holds them together, and he can feel his heartbeat beating from the one he intends to pass to Jihoon. The moonbeams slosh about in their glass holders, and as Jinyoung tries to separate them, he feels this sort of  _pull_ that forces the necklaces back together. 

It's not strong enough to hinder one's daily activities, but it is strong enough to motivate anyone to go where it leads. "I hadn't realised the extent to which you'd help me," he whispers to the moon, "Thank you, again." The moon doesn't provide a response, but it dims slightly and Jinyoung knows that moonbeam harvest time is over until the next night.

It is then that his enchantment on the cuddle pile breaks and they begin to stir. He hastily collects the jars before any can plummet down and kill anyone. "Oh look," Hyungseob comments sleepily, "Woojinnie, I can see the rabbit in the moon." Jinyoung shoves most of the jars into his cupboard and tucks two into the satchel he previously gave to Woojin. "Look there, it's smiling at me." He points with a sleepy finger at the moon. "There it is, I haven't seen it since I was twelve." 

Jinyoung hurries to drag the four of them into his house, starting with Seongwoo who has slid down even more and was beginning to dangle precariously off the edge. Daehwi is next, and Jinyoung has to hurriedly put out a fire that Daehwi had started as he bumped into the couch. He doesn't have to bother with either Woojin or Hyungseob. He spots them moving sluggishly together and climbing onto Hyungseob's bed just as he tucks Daehwi securely into bed and secures fireproof gloves on both of his hands. The right one begins smoking dangerously and Jinyoung worriedly reinforces the fire rune on it.

Everything is in its rightful place. Jinyoung hums contentedly and climbs into bed and knocks out the moment his head touches the pillow. 

He wakes up in the morning to a mini explosion in the kitchen. He rushes out, bashing his shoulder on the glass cupboard as he hurries to the kitchen. "Wha-" Woojin stands there, holding a smoking frying pan with what looks like badly burnt pancake mix on it. "What did you do, oh my god?" Woojin squeaks and drops the pan in the sink. He points an accusatory finger at the living room.

"I didn't do anything! I'm just cleaning up after Daehwi-!" He fidgets a little before dashing off. Jinyoung scrubs his hand over his face. He must look quite the sight, with his wild bedhead and crazed eyes. 

"Please don't destroy my house!" He yells after Woojin's retreating back. "Tell the others too!" 

Looks like he's going to have to prepare breakfast for 5 today.

 

* * * * *

 

Their farewell arrives quicker than Jinyoung would have liked and he bids them goodbye tearfully. Though, if you were to ask him, he would vehemently deny the waterworks. Even though his visitors had only stayed for a day or two, Jinyoung has always gotten himself attached way too easily. 

"You all had better stay safe," He chokes as the tears flow, tracking salty trails down his face, "I don't want to hear news that any of you have died or something." He lets them all crowd around him and he gives each of them a hug. He snatches a handkerchief from someone's pocket and dries his eyes with it. 

Jinyoung silently tugs Seongwoo aside to pass him a message. "Hey, do you think you could-" 

"Pass something on for you?" Seongwoo guesses. He shrugs. "Sure, it's the least I can do." 

Jinyoung pulls the warm and pulsating necklace from his pocket, fumbling a little with the chain, and hands it to Seongwoo. "When you go to get the Frost flowers, you'll have to get them in Jihoon's kingdom. I want you to pass this to him, and tell him that his Baejin hasn't forgotten. And that he's really, really sorry for taking so long." His voice cracks with emotion at the end and he casts his eyes to the floor. 

Seongwoo peers closely at the necklace. "Hey, is this-"

"It's a real star." Jinyoung's shoulders slump with exhaustion. The bags under his eyes are suddenly prominent and Seongwoo can see the fatiigue lacing his features. "It took up a lot of magic and a lot of pride."

"How did you even get the moon to send you a star?" Seongwoo asks breathlessly, staring with awe at it. "And you're giving it to Prince Jihoon?" 

Jinyoung pulls the other moonbeam necklace out of his pocket. "Two, actually. I didn't realise it until about a minute ago, but the moon was going for the concept of defeating the 'star-crossed lovers' cliche." He grins at the star that's begun to glow softly. "Sometimes, you just have to ask." 

"Seongwoo hyung! If you don't get your ass here right now, we're leaving you behind!" Daehwi's enraged shout interrupts their conversation. He levels Seongwoo with a look, and if looks could kill, Seongwoo would be dead three times over. 

"I'm coming!" Seongwoo retorts. He turns to Jinyoung. "Don't worry, I'll get it to Prince Jihoon for you and make sure it doesn't break on the way there." He gives him one last hug before running off after the other three. 

Jinyoung waves the soggy handkerchief and dabs at the tears leaking from his eyes. 

Oh, he's going to miss them. He walks into his house, still feeling the pain of farewell, until he sees his dining table. Dirty plates are stacked sky-high and Jinyoung's eye twitches.  

The pain of farewell flies out the door and follows his visitors as they leave.  

* * * * *

"Where are we headed next?" Hyungseob asks as they trudge along the riverbank. "We've got the moonbeams and the unicorn blood already, so what are we going to get?" 

"Frost Flowers." Seongwoo says decidedly. "We're getting the Frost Flowers." 

"Don't we have to pass through Prince Jihoon's kingdom?" Daehwi says faintly. "I heard that he doesn't accept audiences unless you bring him a gift. And I don't have anything to give except my sass, Woojin's dignity and Hyungseob's purity. Which, all things considered, isn't much."

Hyungseob and Woojin both let out affronted gasps. Seongwoo rolls his eyes. "Jinyoung gave us a gift to pass on to Prince Jihoon, no one's dignity or purity is going to be given away." Daehwi opens his mouth to speak but Seongwoo cuts him off. "Not your sass. That can go." 

Daehwi folds his arms grumpily and turns away, pointedly looking in the other direction and pretends not to notice anything when Seongwoo's hair catches fire. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @thisseemslikefun  
> Day 1 in jail,, it's horrible  
> I am using my 5 minutes of wifi to post this,, but I do not know if it will make it,, it's going so slowly  
> jail is tortur kids i dont want to see any of you here,,,


	10. X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½ is an asshole. 
> 
> Jihoon decides that he's had enough of suitors. They're overrated anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoooo i didnt update for a long time whoopsies but here's a really long chapter to make up for it!!

"Give me a chance," Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½ begs, clasping his hands together as he drops to his knees in front of Jihoon. "I'll make you happy! Happier than anyone else in the world!"

Jihoon thinks that no one can make him happier than Jinyoung does. Scratch that, he  _knows_ that no one can make him happier than Jinyoung already has. Still, he plasters on a fake smile and turns to Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½ apologetically. "I'm sorry, you're not my type." 

Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½ throws his hands into the air. "Out of millions of people, you still haven't found a single person who's your type? I can't believe this, you look down on me and my kingdom, right?" Jihoon gulps. This guy is getting offended, he can see that, and things are going to get ugly soon if someone doesn't stage an intervention soon. 

"Hey, I never said that," Prince Jihoon says, giving him his best wounded look, honed to perfection after years of practice. "I just have a very specific ideal type, and you don't meet my standards." Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½ falters in his angry tirade, before he barrels on relentlessly, raining insults down on Jihoon and his family (Which, is a stupid move to make, considering his family consists of Kwon Hyunbin, who's like... the most influential model in the modelling industry. Not to mention he's also a king). 

"Dishonour!" The suitor spits, as if what he says actually matters to Jihoon, "Dishonour on you, dishonour on your family-" 

Prince Jihoon rolls his eyes, temper reaching its limit. "-dishonour on your cow; are you done yet? I've heard this all before." He yawns. 

"You're just a conceited, air-headed piece of shit, you know that?" Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½ says vengefully, brandishing his fist, "Why, I ought to-" 

"Prince Jihoon! You have more visitors!" Palace Attendant Sewoon announces as he bursts into the room, effectively preventing a war from breaking out between Jihoon's kingdom and that of Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½. "I tried to tell them to wait, but they were most insistent." 

Jihoon stands up gratefully, heaving a silent sigh of relief. Most suitors think he's a dainty little thing that they're entitled to, and that he's supposed to accept their visits and affections with a bow and a smile. Then, when Jihoon _politely, mind you_ , rejects their hand in marriage, they get offended and start cursing him out, as if they hadn't just been singing praises about his features. Sometimes, these suitors can be pigs, conceited and thinking that because of their statuses, they own everything in the world, including Jihoon.

"Thanks, Sewoon hyung. Please see this man out, we're done talking." Sewoon nods and escorts Suitor 3465738749473479387348767458609901½ - who is still spewing vulgar phrases at Jihoon - out of the room, letting the group of four enter the room. Jihoon takes a quick look at the size of their group and relaxes, laying a hand over his eyes in relief. "You're not here to court me, are you?" 

Hyungseob shakes his head cheerfully. "I have a boyfriend! Hi Jihoonie!"

Jihoon's eyes fly open in shock. "Hyungseob! I haven't seen you in ages!" 

"It can't have been ages, I saw you at my dad's birthday party." 

Jihoon rolls his eyes. "Yeah, that was two months ago. A long enough time. Come here, you!" He tugs Hyungseob into a headlock and begins ruffling up his hair and playing around with the apple ponytail on his head. 

"Hey, watch the ponytail, it takes a lot of time to get it to such a beautiful state!" Hyungseob complains, finally breaking free from Jihoon, who laughs loudly. This is refreshing, not having to meet suitors every single moment of the day. Jihoon decides that he's had enough of suitors. They're overrated anyway.

"Why are you here? A visit from fellow royals is rare considering all the duties we have to attend to." 

Hyungseob motions for Woojin to step forward. "We're asking for easy passage through your kingdom to get Frost Flowers, will you grant it to us?" 

Jihoon ponders for a bit. "What do I get in return? It's only normal to give and to take." 

"I have something that I'm sure you'll love." Seongwoo states clearly, voice ringing out. This grabs Jihoon's attention and he crooks a finger, motioning for Seongwoo to move forward. Daehwi's curiosity is piqued as well, so he dashes to Hyungseob and Woojin to get a clear view of the gift presented. Seongwoo pulls out the moonbeam necklace and the entire room collectively sucks in a quick breath. The necklace is even more beautiful than he remembers. Maybe it's because it's finally near its rightful owner, but Seongwoo isn't just going to give it to Jihoon without getting what they need. "The maker of this necklace wanted me to pass on a message. He says that your Baejin hasn't forgotten, and that he's terribly sorry for taking so long."

Jihoon's heart stutters and skips a beat. "Winkdeep," he whispers to himself. He stretches a hand out for the necklace and Seongwoo pulls it just out of reach. "Give it here!" He shouts, unshed tears shining in the light. 

"Not until you promise to give us easy passage through your kingdom." Seongwoo purses his lips and leans forward slowly. "Or you can say goodbye to this necklace forever." 

"Fine!" Jihoon desperately reaches for the necklace. "Could you  _please_ give it to me  _now_?" He knows his voice has gone shrilly by now and Seongwoo raises an eyebrow at his anxiety to have the necklace in his possession but hands it over carefully nonetheless. Jihoon lets it dangle for a few seconds, admiring the fine craftsmanship and the entire feel of the necklace that's just so  _Jinyoung_ and he chokes out a laugh. He ducks his head, slipping the necklace on, and nearly dissolves into tears when he hears the familiar comforting rhythm of Jinyoung's heart that lulled him to sleep years ago when things were simpler and he still had Jinyoung by his side.

Somewhere, on a hill not very far away, Jinyoung drops the pot of tea he had been brewing, hands flying to grasp at the once still moonbeam necklace around his neck, now glowing a soft silver and beating with the steady  _badump!_ of Jihoon's heart.

* * * * * 

Jihoon gives them pairs of gloves, some woollen scarves and winter coats for their journey, having observed that they weren't appropriately attired for the wintry snows of the inner kingdom. The palace is accessible to outsiders only because it sits on the outermost part of the kingdom, where it's warmer and only slightly chilly. The heart of the kingdom where the Frost Flowers grow is freezing and people have been known to lose their lives there. 

"Stay safe," Jihoon tells the four, "I don't know why you're embarking on this journey, but I'm sure if you managed to meet Jinyoung then he would have gotten attached to you already, and I don't want to meet a grieving Jinyoung when I go find him." 

Daehwi nods to the best of his abilities, his neck swaddled in so many layers of scarves and fabrics that he can barely move his head. Being a fire fairy, Daehwi is extremely susceptible to the cold. 

"Thank you so much, Prince Jihoon." Woojin says gratefully as he tugs a beanie onto Hyungseob's head, securely tucking his ears into it."We really appreciate all this." 

"Don't worry about it." Jihoon laughs, all soft and tinkly. "I'm glad to help." 

Hyungseob zips up Woojin's coat and pats his stomach. "There. We're good to go." Woojin leans forward and gives Hyungseob an affectionate cuddle, pressing their cheeks together and Hyungseob giggles. 

Seongwoo claps his hands twice. "Okay, time to break it up- not your relationship," he hastily adds after receiving death glares from everyone in the room, even Palace Attendant Sewoon who simply does not glare, "I'm just saying, we should go. Wouldn't want to bother Prince Jihoon more than we already have." 

Daehwi bends down to pick up the satchel that holds their ingredients for the potion but ends up tipping over and falling to the ground, arms flailing around helplessly. He rolls onto his back and tries to get up, muscles straining to push himself up, but due to the copious amounts of heavy fabric and wool on his body, he ends up being unable to get back up, arms and legs kicking around in the air futilely. "Come on!" Daehwi grunts frustratedly, trying very hard to get back on his feet, "Someone please give me some help!"  

Hyungseob plods over and hoists Daehwi to his feet with much difficulty. Jihoon sends them all off with a wave of his hand and a final "Be careful!" The back entrance of the palace shuts with an ominous sound and Woojin suddenly shivers with something other than the cold. They trudge on, walking on icy roads and through snowy terrain to get to the plain where the Frost Flowers grow. As they move, a chill begins to settle in their bones, and Seongwoo unconsciously huddles closer to the rest of the group. "I'm g-getting a l-little b-bit c-cold," Seongwoo stutters, teeth chattering together. "S-should we s-stop f-for a b-b-bit?" 

Woojin shakes his head resolutely. "If we stop n-now," he says determinedly hugging onto a shivering Hyungseob, "We might not start again." He turns to Daehwi who's strolling along and whistling a merry tune. "Are you not c-cold?" When Daehwi shakes his head no, Woojin smiles in relief. "G-good, could you h-help us light a fire?" 

Daehwi exhales slowly, his breath forming soft frost in the air that rises. "I can try." He lifts his right hand and tries to conjure a flame, but there's nothing. He tries again, concentrating hard, but to no avail. The snow falls around them and Daehwi still cannot light the fire. In his mind's eye, he reaches out desperately, grasping at the edges of his magic and drawing it close. He summons all his strength and channels it into bringing out a flame.

The snow flurries around them and the wind whips through their hair. It's too strong to be the work of nature. Sensing the strange magic in the air, Seongwoo looks around nervously and herds Woojin and Hyungseob closer to him, hand reaching out for Daehwi when-

The ice biting at their skin shoots towards Daehwi and disappears, leaving a blue glow where it had entered his body. Daehwi puffs out a single shocked breath before he collapses to the floor, convulsing and gasping for air. Hyungseob breaks free from Seongwoo's tight grip and crashes to the floor beside him, hurriedly shaking at his still shoulders. "Daehwi!"

Blue begins to bleed into orange, colouring the flames imprinted on his skin an icy blue as Daehwi's eyes shoot open. Hyungseob chokes back a sob and throws his arms around Daehwi's neck. Daehwi draws in a shocked breath and coughs. "What happened?" 

"I think I found the rest of my powers," Daehwi says, awed. He lifts up his left hand, flaming a brilliant blue and Woojin reaches out to run a hand through it. The flames are searingly cold and Woojin retracts his hand before he can get frostbite. "It's frostfire. People use it to harvest Frost Flowers." Slowly, Seongwoo walks over and grabs at Daehwi's right wrist. 

"Light it up," A gigantic grin spreads over his face. "If my hunch is correct, you should be able to produce a flame right now." Baffled, Daehwi just does as he's told, any prior retorts he might have had die on the tip of his tongue. A brilliant orange flame bursts from his fingertips. "Huh. You're a combination of both kinds of fire, I shouldn't have expected any less." 

For Fairykind, powers are passed down through lineages. Some fairies only marry into fairy families with the same power as them in order to produce children with entirely pure powers, some fairies marry those with powers opposite theirs to produce paradoxical children with conflicting powers. Some, like King Youngmin and Donghyun, marry who they love, regardless of their power. But, you'll never actually know what power a fairy child will have. The coveted power can skip a generation or two and manifest into the grandchild of the original wielder of the power. 

In Daehwi's case, King Youngmin's ancestry had a fire fairy somewhere in the mix, and King Donghyun's grandmother was a frostfire fairy. The magic in their blood combined and formed Daehwi, a frostfire-fire fairy. 

"Daehwi, could you send a little normal fire this way?" Seongwoo grits out, wrapping his arms around Woojin tighter. "I can't feel my toes." 

"Oh, sure." Daehwi replies, scrambling over with Hyungseob in tow. He pushes at their shoulders, seats them down despite Woojin's many protests and lights a small bonfire in the middle of their circle. Seongwoo sighs contentedly at the heat emanating from the flames, turning his hands near the flames to get as much heat as possible. Woojin rifles through the satchel for a moment and confusedly pulls out some cocoa powder. 

"Do we happen to have cocoa powder on the list of things we need to get?" Woojin asks Seongwoo who mimes taking out an imaginary list and pretends to read from it. 

"We don't have cocoa powder on the list," Seongwoo says after he's had enough fun squinting at an imaginary piece of paper, "Where'd you get that from?" 

Hyungseob plucks the piece of paper dangling on the other side and scans it. "Oh, it's from Jinyoung!" He squints and wipes off some snow that has fallen onto it. "Please drink up," he reads, a small smile growing on his face, "It's going to be cold and I know you can make fires because you have a witch and a fire fairy. Use your magic." 

"Aw," Daehwi coos, already summoning some patterned mugs and filling them with water, "Jinyoung  _cares_ for us." He leisurely stirs some cocoa powder into the mugs, the heavenly smell of hot chocolate filling the air. They each grab a mug and huddle together for warmth, sipping at their hot chocolate. Hyungseob lets the rich taste of the chocolate sit on his tongue, revelling in the warmth of the drink and the sweetness of Jinyoung's (entirely platonic) love for them.

The hot chocolate certainly helps. After a while, Seongwoo regains feeling in his toes and happily announces the commencement of their journey. "The Frost Flowers aren't going to wait there forever!" He says jubilantly as he collects the mugs from everyone and reduces them to snow, pressing the remnants of the porcelain-turned-snow into the ground with the toe of his boot. "Let's go!" 

Daehwi pushes himself off the ground and dusts the snow off of his parka. "I think we'll have to go up higher, where it's colder. Frost Flowers have to grow in really low temperatures." 

"Alright," Hyungseob mutters, grabbing onto Woojin's arm weakly, "Let's go." They hold onto each other's shoulders, Daehwi leading the way and using a small flame to illuminate the path they're taking. They trudge in the snow continuously for what seems like hours until they come to a rickety wooden staircase. Woojin tilts his head up and squints against the glare of the sun, trying to see where the staircase leads to. 

"I can't see anything," he voices out, "It's too high up." 

"Maybe that's where we're supposed to go." Hyungseob brings up a hand to shield Woojin's eyes from the sunlight reflecting off the snow. "Up into the clouds where there are optimal Frost Flower growing conditions." They all entertain this thought and decide that it sounds reasonable; since they're here, they might as well try. 

So, their gruelling climb to the top begins. Seongwoo's knee screams with pain each time he hoists his weary body up another step. Hyungseob steps on a slippery patch of ice and loses his footing, tumbling to the bottom of the staircase. Woojin runs after his boyfriend, hurriedly trying to catch Hyungseob before he breaks a bone or two. Daehwi sighs and pauses on the steps, much to the relief of Seongwoo, who by now has unzipped the top layer of his winter jacket and is sweating buckets. 

They wait in comfortable silence as Woojin helps Hyungseob up the ten steps he had tumbled down. Woojin grips onto Hyungseob tightly, as if afraid that Hyungseob would either fall down again or get blown away by the wind. Hyungseob presses his cheek flush against Woojin's own and Woojin wonders how he can feel so warm inside even as they move through sub zero temperatures. 

"Remember how I said I was glad that I was locked away in a cell with you?" Hyungseob whispers, gloved hand finding Woojin's and locking their fingers together. 

"Yeah," Woojin breathes, guiding Hyungseob up each individual step slowly. It feels almost as if time has frozen and they're the only two people in the universe, eye locked on each other. "Just another time my heart fluttered when I was with you." 

"I think this is better," Hyungseob giggles, "Us here together. I'm happy whenever I'm with you, really." 

"Me too." Woojin smiles, showing off his snaggletooth. "The best thing that has happened to me is being able to meet you." 

They quickly catch up with Daehwi and Seongwoo. "You've broken rule number 6," Daehwi says stonily, "No public displays of affection where I can see them." 

Hyungseob rolls his eyes. "There was never such a rule." 

"There is now," Daehwi snaps, "If you keep hugging and kissing, the Frost Flowers will have melted by the time we get there."

"They'll melt because I'm too hot," Seongwoo says, continuing to climb up tirelessly. The short break and fresh air earlier was good for his aching muscles and gave him energy to continue on. "And then they'll freeze again because Daehwi's heart is so cold. He hasn't felt the fire of love yet." 

"There's Samuel!" Daehwi replies hotly. "I'll make him fall for me, just you wait!"

"You haven't even met the boy," Woojin laughs, "What if he turns out to be a complete asshole?" 

"He won't be," Daehwi says with conviction, "There's no way he can be an asshole with that face. It's too beautiful." 

As they talk, Hyungseob begins to get bored and wanders off by himself. Light glints off the surface of something shimmering in a faraway bush, hitting Hyungseob straight in the eye. Curiosity piqued, he moves forward to get a closer look at it. The object in question clings to a thin, green stalk, resembling tiny swirls of cotton candy, thin and wispy. Hyungseob reaches out a tentative hand to poke at it and quickly retracts his hand as the entire frosty mass trembles with magic. 

Hyungseob's mouth falls open slightly with awe as he reaches two gloved hands to slide it gently off of its stem. He twirls around to show Woojin his latest discovery and barrels straight into him. Woojin catches him and steadies the both of them with a single hand. 

"What's that?" He asks, peering down at the snowy structure that Hyungseob is cupping and nudges his arm. 

"I don't really know," Hyungseob begins, beaming at Woojin, "I thought it was pretty and wanted to share it with you!" 

"Hyungseob! That's a Frost Flower!" Daehwi gapes incredulously, butting into their conversation. "Where'd you get it?" 

Hyungseob points at the tiny green stalk where he'd picked up the Frost Flower. "I found it there earlier, why?" 

Seongwoo frowns, confusion marring his features. "Frost Flowers don't grow on stems, they grow on lakes." He thinks for a bit, tapping his foot impatiently against the frozen ground. "Ah, maybe there's a lake somewhere in that direction!" 

Daehwi directs everyone in that direction, agreeing to the possibility that the warm summer wind had dislodged a Frost Flower and deposited it where Hyungseob had found it. They walk together for a while, feet trudging through snow, until they come across a frozen lake. 

The scene literally steals Woojin's breath away. He lets his eyes linger on the scenery before him, drinking it all in and committing it to memory. 

The setting sun on the horizon paints the sky pretty hues of violet and salmon-pink interwoven with each other, fluffy clouds forming white ribbons that drape themselves across the sky, stretching from mountain peak to mountain peak. The light falls gently on the frozen lake, illuminating the frosty structures that have formed on its icy surface. 

Hyungseob thinks that he's never seen anything as beautiful as Woojin staring quietly at the view before them, wonder etched into his features. 

Seongwoo exclaims in delight when he sees the Frost Flowers, shattering the calm atmosphere as he does a queer little jig on the spot. 

Something occurs to Woojin as he continues to stare at the Frost Flowers. "How are we going to harvest them? They're all the way out in the middle of the lake and-" Woojin taps the ice with his foot, "-the ice doesn't look very sturdy." 

"Global warming," Daehwi comments solemnly, "It makes the job of Frost Flower Harvesters even more life-threatening than they already are." He extends a finger to poke at the ice. "It's not going to be easy to get them out of the lake." 

"Easy," Seongwoo shrugs. "Daehwi can go to the centre and burn them out with fire, no big deal." 

"i can't swim," Daehwi deadpans. "I've never learnt how to; did you really think that non-water fairies spend all their time frolicking around in the water?" Daehwi frowns and sits down on the snow. "Besides, wouldn't melting the surrounding ice cause the entire ice sheet to crack apart?" 

Woojin nods in agreement. "No offense, Daehwi, but you can't control the heat of your orange flames yet." 

"None taken," Daehwi's shoulders slump, "It's true, anyway." 

Hyungseob mulls over this for a moment. "If normal flames don't work, do you think frostfire would? It's cold fire, so it could work." 

Everyone turns to stare at Hyungseob as if he's grown a second head. Daehwi breaks the awkward silence. "It might work," he says slowly, "It's ridiculous, but when has playing by the rules ever worked out for us?" 

 

* * * * * 

 

It's a unanimous decision to test out Hyungseob's theory, and they tie a few of their scarves together, forming a long rope which they fasten tightly around Daehwi's waist. Hyungseob triple knots it for good measure. In the case of an emergency, if something goes wrong and Daehwi falls into the lake, they can always haul him back easily. They send him off with words of encouragement and warnings to be careful, since he's literally treading on thin ice. Daehwi reaches the cluster of Frost Flowers around the middle and winces as the ice creaks underfoot. He stretches his hand out, lighting it up with a tiny frostfire flame, and slowly,  _carefully_ saws through the base of the Frost Flower. The process is painstakingly slow; and when the frostfire flame cuts through the last bit of the base, Daehwi cautiously lifts the entire flower up. 

He sucks in a breath and waits with trepidation for the ice to crack. But it never does; the Frost Flower fully intact, and the ice beneath it is completely whole.

Daehwi heaves a sigh of relief and tucks the Frost Flower into a small cloth sack, then tucks it carefully into the satchel hanging around his torso. He extends a hand for the next one, supporting the frosty petals and begins to saw faster, confidence levels rising at the initial success. It's not until Daehwi is hacking away at the thirteenth flower, that he notices that something is wrong. His flames had started to flicker from blue to orange since the eighth flower at sporadic times, but it only sped up the process and he paid no heed to it.

Now, he sees the issue.

Halfway through the thirteenth flower, his frostfire flames sputter and go out to be replaced by a roaring orange flame that stays for a whole minute. Even just by looking, Daehwi knows that the heat is too much for the ice to take. It cracks beneath the thirteenth flower, nothing big, but still dangerous. He switches the flame to a frostfire one and chooses to take the risk of going for one last one, ignoring the warning shouts coming from Seongwoo, who's standing by the edge of the lake, gripping onto his end of the scarf chain tightly. The frostfire lasts for about a fraction of a second, then it putters to the orange flame and Daehwi knows he's doomed. He barely has any time to hurriedly shove the last Frost Flower into the satchel and fling it to the edge of the lake before the ice supporting him shatters and he plunges into the depths of the lake. 

Seongwoo sees Daehwi send him a look of pure panic and his instincts kick in, running onto the frozen lake. "Pull!" He roars at Hyungseob and Woojin, channelling all his energy into hauling Daehwi out of the freezing water.  _He can't swim_ , Seongwoo's heart lodges itself in his throat and he continues to pull at the line, straining his eyes to see the orange markings against the white of the snow,  _We can't let him sink_. "Come on, put your backs into it!"

The ice begins to freeze over again and Seongwoo pulls harder, the few scarves they'd attached together suddenly seeming so long. He sends jolts of warmth down the scarves, melting the ice around it and creating enough space to continue pulling upwards. When Seongwoo sees the telltale grey of Daehwi's hair just bobbing beneath the surface, Seongwoo abandons pulling and leaps down onto the ice. He pulls out a dagger from  _fucking nowhere_ \- wait, he's a witch, no surprise there - and begins to chip away at the thin layer of ice. Once he's created a hole big enough for Daehwi's lithe frame to fit through, he bends down and wraps strong arms around Daehwi's torso and pulls him out. 

Hyungseob and Woojin rush over with extra parkas and hurriedly change Daehwi into warm clothes. Seongwoo moves to light a fire and makes some hot cocoa with some of the remaining powder that they have. Daehwi lies motionlessly where Seongwoo had carefully lain him in the snow, lips blue. Hyungseob wraps his arms around Daehwi and begins to wail. "Please wake up," he whispers as Woojin joins the hug, offering warmth to Daehwi and to himself, "Not again; _please_." 

Daehwi's chest begins to rise and fall slowly with breaths of air, but his eyelids remain firmly shut. Seongwoo sends a warming spell their way. "Stay warm," he says to Hyungseob and Woojin tight-lipped, "If we l-lose him, I can't lose you both too." His jaw is set into a firm line. "We won't lose him, and I won't lose any of you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> try reading out the name of the suitor i bet you can't


	11. XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daehwi's body doesn't fail him but Hyungseob's memory does.

Daehwi's floating. 

He dips his hand into a starry river, letting the galaxies flow out through the gaps in his hands. He rolls over and bounces on shimmery clouds of apple juice and ambrosia and lands gracefully on both feet on fields of liquorice with cotton candy sheep wandering around grazing. 

He's got a shawl made of moonlight wrapped around his shoulders, causing him to feel more of the cold than warmth. He spies someone walking over to him. It's someone he doesn't know. "Who are you?" He calls, voice taking on a strange underwater quality. 

The stranger gives him a brilliant smile and sticks out his hand. "Hello, my name is Kim Jonghyun." Daehwi takes his hands and shakes it. His hand comes away covered in pink glitter and he stares at it in awe. "I need you to come find me, then I can help your little group on your mission," Jonghyun continues, "First, you'll have to wake up."

"Wake up?" Daehwi tilts his head, "Am I not awake?" The moonlight shawl around his shoulders grows heavier and colder, weighing down on his shoulders and he tries to shrug it off.  

It won't budge.

The shawl only tightens around his neck and he chokes, hands flying up to pull it off, but it refuses to move. The licorice fields are pulled from under his feet and suddenly he tumbling, tumbling, tumbling and he is suspended in a sea of stars. He opens his mouth to breathe but his lungs refuse to fill up with air. 

His throat clogs up with water and suddenly, there's a hand pounding at his chest, helping him expel the water clogging up his throat. 

His eyes snap open and he breathes in raggedly, cold air stinging at the back of his throat. 

"Oh my god," Hyungseob gasps, removing his hands from Daehwi's chest. "Guys, he's awake!" 

Daehwi takes in the sight before him. They're still beside the lake, he remembers falling in, but nothing after that. The sky is a brilliant blue, small flecks of cloud dotting the heavens. He coughs, throat scratchy and Hyungseob offers him a mug of steaming cocoa. He accepts it gratefully, still searching for words to say. "The frost flowers," he says after a few gulps of the hot cocoa. "Did we get them?" 

"Of course we got them," Seongwoo snorts, "You tossed them to the side of the lake before you fell in." Seongwoo reaches across and smacks Daehwi across the head. "Honestly, what were you thinking? Sacrificing your life for us?" 

"But I didn't die." Daehwi points out, "I can't have sacrificed my life if I'm still alive." 

Woojin ruffles his hair. "It's a good thing you're alive." He looks around. "I'd hate to be the one who ruins this reunion, but where do we have to go next? I don't want to stay another night in this icy place, I had enough of a hard time fending off frostbite for myself and Hyungseob last night." 

Seongwoo shrugs. "I think we only have to get silver and something else. I'm not sure what it is, but we have to counter Pure Hate and Betrayal, which," he levels a stink eye at Daehwi, "would not have about if the Fairy Kingdom could chill." 

"I can't even counter that," Daehwi sighs and lays a hand over his eyes dramatically, "We're all too hot for our own good." He pauses and thinks for a second. "Not sure how relevant this is going to be, but I had a psychedelic dream earlier, and this guy called Kim Jonghyun came to me? Offering to help?" 

Seongwoo gasps, hands flying to his cheeks. "Kim Jonghyun? Nation's leader, Kim Jonghyun?" He begins to pace. "Kim Jonghyun's only the best potion master of all time! You're right, if there's anyone who can help it's Jonghyun!" 

 

* * * * * 

 

If you asked Hyungseob what he thought Kim Jonghyun looked like, he would have answered tall, strong, muscled, very cool. Someone befitting of the 7 hours Seongwoo had taken up just to sing praises about him.

But Kim Jonghyun turns out to be a mousy man, exuding a subtle brilliance with eyes that shine like a million stars. His shoulders are hunched as he sits at a cup of tea, eyes twinkling as he spots the ragtag group of four approaching from a distance. 

"Hello," he calls, spreading his arms in a warm welcome, "I've been waiting for you!" Daehwi dashes up to him and peers at his face. 

"Him!" He screams, pointing at Jonghyun as he turns to the rest who are huffing and panting as they try to catch up. "He was in the psychedelic vision-dream thing!" 

"Hello to you too, Daehwi." Jonghyun laughs warmly as he lowers Daehwi's index finger. "Don't you know it's rude to point?" 

" M'sorry," Daehwi mutters, scuffing the toe of his shoe on the ground. "You'll still help us right?" 

Jonghyun nods and sweeps the others in a hug. Seongwoo laughs happily. "Jonghyunnie! You're still so small!" 

"Seongwoo, I haven't seen you in a while, and the first thing you do is insult my height?" Jonghyun lets go of Seongwoo with a strong pout. "I'm not even that short!"

"How does Seongwoo hyung even know everyone?" Hyungseob whispers to Woojin, leaning in close. "I swear, he's greeted everyone we've met on this journey with a dazzling smile and a nickname." 

"Maybe he's just sociable," Woojin whispers back, pulling Hyungseob in closer with an arm, "I mean, it's Seongwoo hyung. Something would be wrong if he didn't know everyone." 

"Your name is Hyungseob, is that right?" Jonghyun asks, directing a soft smile at Hyungseob. "Your uncle- his name is Donghan, right?" 

Hyungseob nods mutely. "I'm Park Hyungseo- ah, no - I'm Ahn Hyungseob." He says lamely, sticking a hand out for Jonghyun to shake. Woojin stares at Hyungseob, face going red. 

"How's he? Your uncle, that is." 

Hyungseob thinks back to the last time he'd seen Uncle Donghan. He was doing quite well, swimming in riches, but emotionally, not very well. He'd broken down sobbing like a newborn baby at their last family gathering in front of his sixth husband who had hurriedly thrown a bunch of tissues in his face. "Not very well." 

"Hm, that's to be expected. Anyway, I've heard about your situation. I can help you, but you must be willing to sacrifice something that's bound to be very important. And, if it's a success, please bring Donghan to the castle before you use it." Jonghyun says distantly. "It's definitely been a long 6 years for him." 

"How can you help us?" Woojin asks. "No offence, but it doesn't look like you have anything here that can counter Pure Hate and Betrayal." 

Jonghyun's smile doesn't waver. "I know a procedure that can help you get the ingredient that you need, and I have the equipment you need to brew the potion? Good enough for you to accept my help?"

"More than enough!" Daehwi cuts in, glaring at anyone who dares to contradict him. "But are you sure this will work?" 

Jonghyun sighs, a faraway look appearing in his eyes. "It did 6 years ago, so it should work again this time around. Though, somedays, I do wish it had never worked." He turns his head to look at the four. "I'll need a royal." When met with looks of confusion, he explains, "Royals tend to have more attachment to things they have because they know that they can lose them at any time and they'll try to hold on tighter than most. The positive energies needed to counter the Pure Hate and Betrayal will be stronger."

"We have two," Seongwoo replies, pushing forwards Hyungseob and Daehwi. "Prince of the kingdom that we need to save and the Fairy Prince." 

Jonghyun regards Daehwi critically. "Isn't he too young? Plus, he has powers." 

All eyes turn to the last available option, Hyungseob, who grins awkwardly. Woojin offers his hand for comfort and Hyungseob gladly takes it. "He'll do fine," Jonghyun says as he observes Hyungseob. His eyes slowly drift to Woojin and their interlocked hands and he winces. "I'm going to have to speak with you in private, Hyungseob, is that okay?" 

"Yeah, sure," Hyungseob lets go of Woojin and trails after Jonghyun, who leads him into a small room at the back of his house. 

"Sit down, make yourself comfortable- er, don't touch that, it'll bite- okay," Jonghyun busies himself with making some tea for himself and Hyungseob before sliding himself into the seat opposite him. Hyungseob accepts the cup with a small bow. "You probably don't know what you're getting yourself into," Jonghyun sighs, "So I'm going to tell you. Remember, don't feel pressured to go ahead with it; you still have the option to refuse."

"It can't possibly be that bad," Hyungseob says slowly. 

Jonghyun sympathetically shakes his head. "Hyungseob, it is  _that_ bad. In fact, it's much worse than you think it to be." He reaches a hand over to grasp at Hyungseob's own. "You remember your Uncle Donghan, don't you?" 

 

* * * * *

 

The one time the procedure worked before, 6 years ago, was on Donghan. He'd needed an instance of true love to break a spell on a vampire locked away in a tower somewhere and Jonghyun had consented to trying out something new with him. They'd worked tirelessly for months beforehand to come up with a way to extract the essence of the purest love from a willing subject, which had ended up being Donghan himself. 

As it turned out, Donghan had fallen in love with the vampire and wished to free him from his sorry fate. He needed the essence of true love to break the spell locking him away in a bloodthirsty vampire's mindset, but he was unable to find it anywhere; not even in old potion books dating back to the 10th century. 

The true love that Donghan had, was for the vampire. And there was no other way to extract it than by removing the memories of the vampire and distilling them into liquid form. They had eagerly tried the procedure out, Donghan grinning cheekily at Jonghyun as he readied the small hut for the procedure, but quickly growing solemn as the actual spellcasting was to take place. When it was all over, it was a success; they had obtained a vial of the purest form of love, flowing softly with the gentle tinkles of bells. 

Jonghyun waved the glowing pink vial in Donghan's face. "It worked! You can go save your vampire now!" Donghan's face turned to one of utter confusion as he stared at it. 

"I'm glad we succeeded," he said, rolling the words around in his mouth as if slowly recalling how to talk after a long period of misuse, "But who is this vampire you speak of?" 

No matter how hard he tried, Jonghyun could not bring back Donghan's memory of the vampire. Donghan returned to his kingdom with a small vial of true love and a strange emptiness in his heart as he tried to figure out what he was forgetting. He quickly realised that it was the absence of love that had him so miserable, so he set out to find husbands, eventually finding five over the course of 6 years. He thought that he loved them, but they were really just a poor substitute for the gaping hole left in his heart by the absence of his one true love. They turn out to be "tasteless fools", and Donghan disposes of them with no difficulty at all. 

When you're a royal with a lot of money and influence, anything is possible. 

Even hiding a dead body. 

Or 5. 

People deal with heartbreak differently, Donghan just dealt with it through murder and the unlawful gain of more money. 

 

* * * * *  

 

"What happened to that vampire?" Hyungseob asks, leaning forward in his seat. "Did he ever get free?" 

"Of course," Jonghyun replies, somewhat indignantly, "I freed him. But he's roaming the Earth now, sadly, in search of the prince who promised to come for him but never did." He places his now cold mug of tea back on the table. "That's why it's so important for you to make sure that your Uncle Donghan is nearby when you use your reversal potion. It might help him get his memories back and I want nothing more than happiness for these two. My motto has always been, ' _If the stars aren't in your favour, align them yourself so that they are'_ , so please, do me a favour and help them." 

"Okay," Hyungseob exhales, "So the procedure involves me losing the memory of my true love?" He looks at the closed door longingly. "That is, Woojinnie?"

"I'm afraid so," Jonghyun says, "It's up to you if you still want to get the procedure done, and if you want to tell him."

Hyungseob chews on his bottom lip. He needs to save his family, and Samuel is still frozen, it's better to sacrifice himself and his love for others to gain their happiness. And Woojin... he'll find someone else, someone better. He was never meant for Hyungseob to hold on to, anyway.

"I'll do it," he tells Jonghyun firmly, "But may I have a day? To spend time with Woojin, have a last few bittersweet moments with him?"

Jonghyun nods gravely. "It's the least I can offer you. The same time, here, day after tomorrow." He stands, chair scraping against the granite floor. "You should go now, he's probably waiting for you anxiously out there."  

Hyungseob pauses at the door with his hand on the handle. "When I don't remember him anymore," he asks hesitantly, "Will you help me tell him that I love him? Please." 

"I will," Jonghyun says, opening a box and pulling out his wand. He dusts it off on his shirt and smiles wanly. "I'll help you tell him."

"Then, that's all I need to know." Hyungseob leaves the room and Jonghyun exhales lowly. It's never easy recalling the happiness that he had unknowingly ripped away from Donghan, but it gets easier with each retelling and now as he knows that there might be a chance that he'll finally regain his memories, his spirits finally lift in the slightest. 

 

* * * * *

 

"What did he say?" Woojin accosts Hyungseob as soon as he steps out. "He didn't do anything bad, right?" 

"No, Woojinnie!" Hyungseob laughs, smiling at Woojin. "It's just that I'll have to go help him harvest something the day after tomorrow, nothing much." 

Woojin stares suspiciously at Hyungseob. It's not that he doesn't want to believe his boyfriend, but something about Hyungseob's smile seems to set off warning bells in his head that Hyungseob isn't telling him the full truth. Maybe it's how Hyungseob's smile doesn't quite go all the way to his ears. He shrugs it off. If Hyungseob doesn't want to tell him now, he must have a good enough reason. 

Woojin trusts him. 

"Woojinnie, can we go on a date tomorrow?" Hyungseob asked, tugging on Woojin's hand. "I want it to be a day to remember."

"Sure," Woojin replies, confused, "We can go on a date anytime. Anything for you."

"Aw," Seongwoo coos, clasping his hands together, "Young love. Isn't it sweet?"

Daehwi gags. "Nope. I can live without seeing it."

Woojin mock-glares at him and he sticks his tongue out defiantly. Hyungseob watches them interact with a bittersweet smile, how much of this will he remember the day after tomorrow, when his memories of Woojin, the person who matters the most to him in this world, will be gone?

 

* * * * * 

 

"Woojinnie, it's already morning," Hyungseob whisper-yells, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet as he tries to wake Woojin up. "Come on, we don't have all the time in the world." 

Woojin stumbles out of bed, hair resembling a magpie's nest as he rubs his eyes sleepily. "Okay, I'm awake," he says as he brushes his teeth with one eye open and a lot of help from Hyungseob, "Where are we going?" 

"The hill," Hyungseob replies, pulling a couple sweater in a soft shade of baby blue over Woojin's head. "I have a picnic prepared for the both of us." 

"Food," Woojin hums, "Come to think of it, I'm hungry. You know me best." 

"I do." Hyungseob giggles, "Come on, the meat will get cold if we don't hurry. There's a gentle breeze blowing and the food won't taste as delicious as it's supposed to be if we're late." 

Walking together through the dewey grass with Hyungseob in the early morning to catch the sunrise feels strangely domestic to Woojin; it's new but he likes it. The grass tickles at his skin through the rips in his jeans as he takes a seat on the ground. Hyungseob picks up a steaming piece of marinated beef and holds it out for Woojin. "Open up," he sings, swinging the piece of meat around. 

"I can feed myself, you know," Woojin states amusedly but reaches out to receive the piece of meat in his mouth nonetheless. Flavours burst in his mouth and he groans, savouring the sweet taste of the meat. "This is really good, Seobbie, I'm going to have to get you to make more for me in the future." 

"Ah, I don't know if I'll be able to," Hyungseob's eyes dart around nervously, "but I'll try for you!" 

Woojin leans forward and nuzzles his nose into Hyungseob's. "I love you so much," he sighs, laying his hands over Hyungseob's smaller ones, "Don't ever forget that." 

Hyungseob's smile turns pained. "I won't."

"Seobbie? In advance, I want to apologise." Woojin says out of the blue, settling two hands on his shoulders.

"Why would you have to- hey!" Woojin's hands forcefully shove against Hyungseob's shoulders and he rolls down the hill, grass and sky blurring together in one big blob as he tumbles. Woojin takes a running leap and rolls down the hill with Hyungseob, stopping at the bottom on top of him. He laughs breathlessly and helps Hyungseob to his feet. "Woojinnie!" Hyungseob gasps. "What was that for?"

"It's pure fun," Woojin throws his head back and laughs, showing off the gleaming snaggletooth that sits in the upper left corner of his mouth. "Live a little."

Hyungseob stares unabashedly at Woojin's bliss and tries to commit this to memory. Maybe he shouldn't have asked for an extra day. It's just making it so much harder for him to let go of this, to let go of Woojin, to let go of his feelings for him.

He lets himself grin a little and he cuddles closer to Woojin. He wants to savour this moment while it lasts.

 

* * * * *

 

The day passes by faster than Hyungseob would have liked it to. They share a quiet dinner together in each other's company, with Hyungseob eating his favourite foods but occasionally stealing forkfuls of food from Woojin's plate. Woojin lets him be, staring fondly at Hyungseob.

"Is there something on my face?" Hyungseob asks, looking up from his plate. "Why are you staring?"

"You have beauty written all over your face," Woojin coos, smoothing out Hyungseob's furrowed eyebrows with his thumb. "I love you so much, you know that?"

Hyungseob hums and leans forward at the same time that Woojin does, lips meeting in the middle. Hyungseob imprints the feel of Woojin's lips in his mind, the soft scent of Woojin's cologne that he always gets a whiff of when they're in close proximity with each other, the soothing feel of Woojin's hand tracing circles on his palm. They break apart, love shining bright in Woojin's eyes.

"Tomorrow, you're going to help Jonghyun hyung, right?" Woojin's eyes flicker with worry. "You'd better stay safe. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I won't," Hyungseob promises, hating the way his voice shakes and almost gives away the lie he's saying, "I'll come back to you. I always will." 

"That's good." Woojin pecks Hyungseob's forehead lovingly. "I'm not going anywhere either." 

 

* * * * *

 

Jonghyun comes to wake him up in the morning. "It's better to do this in the morning, when no one else is awake, so you don't have second thoughts." 

Apprehension fills Hyungseob's chest as he thinks of the impending procedure. "It's not going to hurt, is it?" 

"No," Jonghyun replies. "It's painless." 

Hyungseob exhales. "Let's do it." 

Jonghyun helps him into a chair and straps him down. "This is just for precaution, I can't have you running away during the memory extraction or else more of your memories are going to be wiped unnecessarily." Hyungseob nods, gripping the armrests tightly. 

"I'm ready." He says solemnly, tears gathering in his eyes. It's time to let go of the boy he loves for the sake of everyone else. Hyungseob presses his lips together and tries not to let his fear show. He doesn't want to forget Woojin. He's scared that he'll never remember Woojin and he's scared that Woojin will be hurt.

"Close your eyes now," Jonghyun says, giving his wand an experimental wave, "I'll begin the process." He taps his wand against Hyungseob's temple and mutters a quick spell, taking a painstakingly long time to draw out wispy strands of pearly pink. Hyungseob gasps and trembles, fighting to break free from the restraints as a single tear flows down his cheek. 

Jonghyun uses his free hand to scrub at his eye with his sleeve, wiping away the tears that fall before Hyungseob can see them. Soon, Hyungseob's body goes lax and he lets out a heavy sigh, head flopping back to meet the plush upholstery of the chair. 

When it's all over, Jonghyun frees Hyungseob and his restraints fall to the ground with a  _clank_. "How are you doing?" 

"I'm doing fine, Jonghyun hyung," Hyungseob says tentatively as he reaches a hand up to his eyes. He stares at it in confusion when it comes away wet with salty tears. "Why am I crying?" 

"No reason," Jonghyun says dismissively with a pained tone, "Here. Your essence of true love." He hands the vial of distilled true love to Hyungseob, silently admiring the way it sloshes around in the glass. The extent at which Hyungseob loved Woojin was certainly great, if he can fill up the vial with so much substance. 

"Is this mine?" Hyungseob's eyes widen, "It's so pretty. Thanks Jonghyun hyung, I can go save my kingdom now!" He bursts out of the doors before Jonghyun can say anything in return. 

As he leaves, an arm leisurely drapes itself over his shoulder. "It's so early, Seob-ah, what are you doing already awake?" A voice drawls right into Hyungseob's ear, causing him to jolt in surprise and whack the speaker in the nose as he turns around, arms assuming a defensive stance. Woojin clutches his bruised nose and rolls on the ground, groaning. Hyungseob instinctively moves to help him up. "What's that you've got there? Is that why you went out earlier? To help Jonghyun hyung?" "I-it's mine," Hyungseob stutters, holding it just out of Woojin's reach. "Please don't touch it." 

"I-it's mine," Hyungseob stutters, holding it just out of Woojin's reach. "Please don't touch it." 

Hurt flits across Woojin's expression momentarily before he hides it with a brilliant smile. "Okay Seobbie, that's fine." 

"Please don't call me Seobbie," Hyungseob gasps, breaths coming in and whooshing out quickly as he tries to grasp for any memory that he's supposed to have and should have but doesn't. "I don't even know you!" 

"You don't?" Woojin takes a step back, shock clearly visible on his face. "Hyungseob-ah, this isn't funny-" His hand reaches out to tug on Hyungseob's sleeve.

"It's not a joke!" Hyungseob wrenches his hand out of Woojin's grasp. Woojin's face falls and his palms close around the empty space left by his hand. "Please don't." Hyungseob whimpers as he turns away and flees. 

Woojin stares at his retreating back, shoulders shuddering as tears of heartbreak begin to flow uncontrollably down his cheeks. Daehwi comes around the corner, accidentally bumping into him and he falls to the ground limply and begins to bawl.

"What did I do?" Daehwi whisper-shrieks, mostly to himself, as he sinks to his knees to comfort Woojin. Woojin doesn't even acknowledge his presence, too caught up in the pain of losing Hyungseob to care. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh i dont understand why wannables are still fighting in the comments section on youtube under burn it up and energetic about which song should have been the title track?? we can listen to both songs anyway?? we'll still see live stages for both??? it's literally not a big deal?? 
> 
>  
> 
> and to anyone who says burn it up is messy come fite me  
> same for energetic, they're both really good


	12. XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You know, the red-haired guy?" Hyungseob points to Woojin. "He keeps glaring at me and then running away when I go near him; does he hate me? Because of what I said to him when we first met?" 
> 
> Daehwi snorts. "Park Woojin? Hating Ahn Hyungseob? What nonsense."

"What happened?" Woojin's eyes are wild as he sits across from Jonghyun, clutching onto a cup of tea as if it's his lifeline. It's his turn to consult the all-knowing wizard. To Jonghyun, this feels like déjà vu as he stares at Woojin, it having only been two days since Hyungseob was in the exact position as Woojin is right now. "Hyungseob went out with you, got this shimmery pink liquid in a vial and then acts as if I'm a stranger to him?" 

Jonghyun stares at Woojin over the rim of his own cup and sighs. "Explaining this doesn't get any easier," he mutters to himself, "Whoever said that time heals all wounds  _lied._ " He raises his head and looks at Woojin. "Before I reveal the exact procedure to you, I want you to know that Hyungseob gave his full consent." Jonghyun shoots Woojin a stern glare and he closes his mouth and puts the questioning finger down. "Yes, Woojin, he consented at least  _four_  times." 

Woojin motions for him to continue. 

"I removed his memories of you. For the potion ingredient that counters Pure Hate and Betrayal, you need the essence of pure love. Which manifested itself between you both. Hyungseob knew exactly what he was getting himself into and he told me to tell you that he loves you, and that he has to be selfless just this one more time." Jonghyun exhales sharply. "Well, now that that's out there, you should start brewing your reversal potion soon. The essence of pure love can only stay alive for so long with one host having forgotten everything of the other one." 

"So, does he feel nothing for me?" Heartbreak seeps through Woojin's tone as he stares up through wet eyelashes at Jonghyun. "He's truly forgotten everything concerning me?" 

"Yes," Jonghyun's expression hardens, "And I'm not sure if he'll get them back. Granted, he may fall for you again, but you have to understand that he'll be a little different from the Hyungseob before. After all, once you lose something, you never really get it back the same way it was before." 

 

* * * * *

 

"Do you remember me?" Seongwoo waves a hand in front of Hyungseob's face. 

" _Yes_ ," Hyungseob hisses, exasperated, "But I'll try my darndest to forget you if you keep acting like I've gone blind. I've got mild amnesia, it's nothing serious." 

"What about me?" Daehwi pulls a flame close to Hyungseob's nose and he barely flinches. "Woojin started sobbing on me earlier and I've got to find out why because he ruined my favourite shirt-" 

"I remember you, not the other guy- ouch, that hurt, Daehwi,  _get that flame away from my nose or I swear I will_ -" Hyungseob's fist tightens in the blankets that they're all perched on. "Why is it so important that I remember that guy- what was his name? Woojun? Woojong?" Hyungseob waves his hand in the air dismissively. "Doesn't actually matter; I don't care." 

"It's Woojin, actually," a quiet voice echoes from the doorway. Woojin creeps into view with puffy eyes. "Daehwi, here's your shirt, sorry again." 

Daehwi snatches the shirt away and scrutinises it, then nods in satisfaction. "Good, you didn't ruin it." 

"I've noticed a trend," Seongwoo announces, beckoning Woojin over. He grabs Woojin's chin and turns it to face Hyungseob. "You see, your boy here remembers  _everything_  so far, except-" he pauses for unneeded dramatic effect, "-you." Daehwi slaps Seongwoo across the chest when Woojin's lips begin to tremble, signalling another onslaught of tears. 

"Look what you've done," Daehwi hisses, "You're going to make him  _cry_ again." He pats Woojin's back awkwardly. "Please don't cry, you're a really ugly crier." 

"Are you okay?" Hyungseob asks tentatively. He's not sure what prompted him to enquire after Woojin's wellbeing, but something about it seems so familiar and the words slip out before Hyungseob can contain them. 

"No," Woojin answers brusquely, sniffling a little, "I'll be okay. Just not now. Just not here. Not with you." He breaks free from Seongwoo and disappears from sight, ignoring the calls coming from the other occupants of the room. 

"What's his problem?" Hyungseob asks, a little peeved. He was just trying to be nice. He doesn't understand why it makes him so upset that the red-haired kid isn't responding to him like he does with the others, but it annoys him, frankly, and he tries not to let it show. 

"Let him be," Seongwoo says, watching Woojin halt abruptly in the middle of the hall and sit on the floor listlessly. "He's going through a great loss." 

"Oh," Hyungseob says, frowning as he wrings his hands. "Well, is there any way I can help?" 

Daehwi winces. "Not particularly," he says, "All you can do now is get better soon, that will probably help in more ways than you know." 

 

* * * * *

 

That night, Hyungseob cannot seem to fall asleep. There's a strange emptiness in his chest that he's felt since the morning that he passed off as hunger but now, with a full stomach and little to no stomach space, he's not quite sure anymore. He rolls over in bed and starts at the fact that he is able to move around the bed without meeting with an obstacle. 

But, he's always been sleeping alone, hasn't he?

And, why does the bed feel so cold? He tosses and he turns listlessly, unable to find solace in sleep that refuses to pull him under. A sound catches his ears and he turns, climbing out of bed and padding towards the door on socked feet, listening closely. He can just barely make out heartbroken sobs and someone choking on their tears and he doesn't know why it feels like his own heart is breaking at the sound. 

There's something he's definitely missing, the problem is, he doesn't know what it is. It's just like an itch that he can't scratch, the answer just on the tip of his tongue.

But no matter how hard he tries, he still cannot seem the find the answer. 

(It seems to lie in the sad looks the red-haired boy directs at him all the time.)

 

* * * * *

 

"Do you happen to have any silver on you?" Daehwi asks at ass o'clock in the morning, bouncing impatiently on Hyungseob's bed which is definitely too big for one. "We've already begun work on the potion." 

Hyungseob blinks up blearily at them. "Not that I know of." He yawns, pulling his fringe into its trademark apple ponytail and securing it with a pretty rubber band that he's always used. "Where are you all gathered, I'll meet you there." 

They turn out to be brewing the potion in the kitchen. Hyungseob avoids the knives and heads straight for the stove where Woojun? Woogeun? is calmly stirring the contents of the pot. He drops five frost flowers into the potion, smoke puffing upwards and curling through the strands of hair framing his face. Seongwoo is seated atop the kitchen counter, calmly taking big bites out of the reddest apple he's ever seen. At Hyungseob's questioning look, he calmly explains the situation around mouthfuls of chewed apple, "I have to eat up," he says and sprays bits of chewed up apple everywhere, causing Daehwi to flick one off his nose with a disgusted look, "Got to put some of my blood in there. So the potion knows exactly how to act." 

Whatever-his-name-is sticks his hand out. "Could someone pass me the essence of t-true love?" Hyungseob moves the pass it to him, but as he places the vial in the red-haired boy's palm, their eyes meet and he flinches, pulling apart and quickly turning back to his potion. He pours the essence in as per Jonghyun's instructions and the potion begins giving off the sweet scent of flowers. Something stirs in Hyungseob and tears prick at his eyes. His hand moves upwards to wipe them away before they can fall.

"Hyungseob, are you okay?" Daehwi asks, returning with silverware in his arms that Woojin had purloined from the homes of the villagers in the middle of the night (he'd left a few gold pieces behind, so is it really stealing if he paid for them?). 

"I think so?" Hyungseob blinks away his tears. "Ah, I don't know why I feel so sad. Why won't I stop crying?" 

Woojin looks up at this and smiles mournfully, his hand not ceasing in stirring the brew. Jonghyun shakes his head quietly. "If there was another option I would have taken it," Jonghyun whispers to Woojin, "But I'm sorry that there isn't another one." 

"It's okay," Woojin sighs, "I'm content seeing him happy. It's just, we were never meant to be together in the first place; I guess this was a long time coming." 

"Don't say that. There's no one more perfect for you two than each other and I will not tolerate this self-deprecation; understood?" Seongwoo murmurs, polishing off the apple and picking up a dagger. "Woojin-ah, shove over. I've got to put in my blood now." 

"Careful," Jonghyun warns, moving aside as well to make space for Woojin to stand, "Only two drops please! We don't want this thing to take on your qualities, which would cause an even bigger catastrophe."

"I'm not that bad," Seongwoo groans, dripping exactly two drops of blood into the brew and then heading over to Daehwi to get his wound healed, "I love the stupendous amount of faith you have in me."

Jonghyun sticks his tongue out at Seongwoo in a rare display of childishness. He then turns to the growing pile of silverware. "Daehwi, I don't think we can use all these. We need something pure, do you know of any silver anywhere that's sort of bendy?"

"Bendy? No, I don't think-" Suddenly, Daehwi's eyes widen in realisation. "Actually, yes I do. Woojin, are you okay with it?"  

"It's not mine." Woojin is quick to say, turning away from Hyungseob, "Ask him, not me."  

 Jonghyun looks back and forth at them in confusion. "I still don't understand." 

"Hyungseob, could you pass your rubber band here? Just for a sec?" Seongwoo holds his hand out, beckoning for Hyungseob to place the aforementioned object in his palm. 

Hyungseob cups a hand around it protectively. "No," he begins to say, "Why do you want it? It's precious to me-" he stops abruptly. Why is it important? It's nothing special, he's seen so many similar rubber bands being sold around the kingdom, but why can't he bear to get rid of it? Again, the itch that he cannot seem to scratch returns, prodding at his mind incessantly. "I guess you can," Hyungseob shrugs, carefully tugging it out of his hair. He doesn't miss how Woojin's eyes follow the rubber band, nostalgia written all over his face. 

Their gazes meet and Woojin averts his eyes. 

"We're good," Jonghyun declares, "Pure silver right here. Throw it in the cauldron." Daehwi wastes no time in yanking out the silver thread and throwing it into the pot as he watches it dissolve with a strange look of satisfaction. Hyungseob holds back an unbidden horrified screech, still unsure of why he felt so negatively about losing the rubber band. 

They wait for another hour or so as the potion bubbles away merrily on the stove. "Let's tell stories," Daehwi says, "You know, to pass the time. Jonghyun hyung, can you start?" 

"Sure," Jonghyun consents, hoisting himself up onto the counter beside Seongwoo. "I have nothing to lose." He rubs his hands together. "What do you want to hear?" 

"Something funny, please." Daehwi sneaks a sideway glance at Woojin. "I think we need a little bit of cheering up." 

"Something funny," Jonghyun hums thoughtfully. "Okay, I've got one. Do any of you happen to know a Minhyun?" 

"He's the head chef back at the castle." Hyungseob points out. 

Jonghyun's eyebrow arches upwards. "Didn't expect that," he laughs, "Last I checked, Minhyun was lousy at cooking and had a severe allergy to salt."

"He still does," Hyungseob giggles, remembering the time the entire castle freaked out over the red spots dotting Minhyun's arms (Seonho had fainted and Guanlin had to revive him), "He's just too stubborn and wanted to continue with the job. He's improved over time." 

"Head chef," Jonghyun hums, "What a high position. I haven't seen him in a while, I really should visit him. What I wanted to say was, back in his high school, there were 101 of them? Yes, 101. Minhyun constantly got paired up with this one junior of his and he would complain incessantly about him. They were (and probably still are) polar opposites, and it was funny the way Minhyun got so angry with him and yet put up with all of his idiosyncrasies." 

Seongwoo bursts out in laughter then. "Ah, Kim Jaehwan. What a guy." 

Hyungseob thinks for a moment and then looks up in shock. "Kim Jaehwan? Royal Adviser to King Daniel?"

Jonghyun grins. "The one and only, why?"

A small grin begins to creep on Woojin's face as he recalls the frozen scene of the dining room back when all this had all started. If Royal Adviser Jaehwan was such a handful in a single still screen of him, he cannot imagine what he will be like unfrozen. 

"Ah, my parents were talking about it! I got home late that day from an outing with-" Who was he out with on that day again? Before Prince Samuel came to the castle? "-someone," Hyungseob continues on, tilting his head to the side strangely, "And I heard he sent in a request for special arrangements to be made to stay with Head Chef Minhyun? I didn't understand why then, but I know now why he ran out of the room screaming with horror." 

They're all momentarily distracted by Woojin's hair going back from red to black. 

"I think the potion's done," Jonghyun says, moving to ladle the potion into a tumbler. "Here, keep it well. Don't spill it anywhere, you might end up getting hurt." He pats the closed flap of the satchel slung around Seongwoo's shoulder. "You should go. Come back when you've saved the kingdom, hmm?" 

"We will," Hyungseob says, "And we'll bring Uncle Donghan and his vampire."

Jonghyun's eye twitches. "I'm actually surprised you remember that," Jonghyun says, a hint of a smile creeping onto his face, "And you still don't know what happened to you?" 

Hyungseob shakes his head innocently. Woojin looks like he's torn between laughing and crying. "Okay, okay. Let's be on our way and we'll talk about all this later when we've actually reversed this mess." 

" _Your_ mess," Daehwi reminds, face smushed into Jonghyun's shoulder. "We'll be back soon, stay well!" 

"Okay, now go before I start to cry!" Jonghyun pats Daehwi's back and motions for him to go with a shooing motion. 

They all wave at Jonghyun for the last time before setting off. Woojin trails at the very back of their formation listlessly, occasionally kicking at the loose gravel in the pathway. Hyungseob notices his dejected expression and moves closer to him, feeling a little sorry for him and his situation. "You okay?"

Woojin's head snaps up to look at Hyungseob with poorly concealed panic. "Guh?" He speeds up, moving to stand next to Seongwoo and he latches onto his arm, chatting with him about a random flower that doesn't even exist.

Hyungseob frowns and slowly walks up to Daehwi. "What?" Daehwi deadpans. "You never talk to me unless you need something."

"You know, the red-haired guy?" Hyungseob points to Woojin. "He keeps glaring at me and then running away when I go near him; does he hate me? Because of what I said to him when we first met?"

Daehwi snorts. "Park Woojin? Hating Ahn Hyungseob? What nonsense." He slings an arm around Hyungseob's shoulder. "He could never hate you, no matter what you do. It's just he's really out of it these days, and you're not helping much." 

Right, his name is Woojin. He snorts. "It's not like I stole his lover or caused them to go away, what's his problem with me?" 

Daehwi's face is unreadable as he stares impassively at Hyungseob. "The problem doesn't lie with you, it lies in the situation that you both are in. Technically, you did cause the person most important to him to disappear, so forgive him if he's a little more antsy around you." 

"I'll try, but don't blame me if Woojin ends up yelling at me one day." Hyungseob says. The name rolls off his tongue with practiced ease, as if he's been saying it for many years before. But he's only known Woojin for about a week at most? And he's never directly addressed him by his name. He looks at Woojin who purposely avoids his gaze again. It hurts to have Woojin ignore him, though he can't explain why. 

 

* * * * * 

 

As they near Hyungseob's kingdom, he begins to take the lead, walking down the familiar beaten path to the town square. 

The frozen scene before him melts into a memory of someone holding his hand, laughter echoing in his ears, the sweet taste of honey bread, and a gleaming snaggletooth. There's only one person who has a snaggletooth in their group of four, and that is Woojin. There's definitely something he's missing out on that everyone else knows, Hyungseob thinks, and he's going to find out soon. 

"Hyungseob, are you coming?" Daehwi yells. "Come on, I want to meet Samuel. Hurry up." 

Hyungseob hollers his agreements and hurries to catch up with them, admiring the view of the villagers doing their thing. They haven't moved a single inch since he last saw them with Daehwi and Seongwoo and it amuses him to no end. 

"I've been thinking of getting a cat recently," Seongwoo comments to Woojin offhandedly, "But I don't want to magic one up. Too many risks; what if it ends up being a talking cat? That would be disastrous." 

"Oh, that would be bad. Imagine having to make these trips every other week because your talking cat messed up your spellcasting." Woojin shudders. "No offence, but right now I'd just rather live a rather uneventful life from now on."  _With Hyungseob_. 

Woojin casts a longing look at Hyungseob's back and sighs, dragging his feet through the dirt. Then, someone lands on top of him and he goes down with an unmanly screech. 

"Well,  _hello_ , who are you?" Donghan's happy voice fills his ears. Woojin groans. 

"Uncle Donghan," Hyungseob squeals, running over to envelop him in a hug. "You actually came!" 

"I did," Donghan agrees, squeezing Hyungseob. "And look, I brought someone new." 

Hyungseob raises an eyebrow. That usually means Uncle Donghan has just killed someone new and gotten a new boyfriend. "Neat," he says as he turns to the newcomer, "What's your name? I'm Hyungseob. His nephew." 

"Ah, I'm Kim Taedong," The newcomer scratches the back of his neck, "And, I know. He's told me lots." 

"I have, haven't I?" Donghan beams. "Taedong is so cute! It's like I knew him from before I met him and I'm so glad I found him. Poor boy is so strange, though, seems to hate garlic..."

"It's something I've developed from a past trauma," Taedong adds, "Nothing to worry about." 

"Would you like to accompany me inside?" Hyungseob holds out a hand for Uncle Donghan to take. "I know you do enjoy magic shows." It is then that he notices Woojin splayed out on the floor, cheek practically fusing with the dirt as Uncle Donghan shifts about on top of his back. "Er, Uncle Donghan, you appear to be sitting on W-woojin," Hyungseob begins, tugging at Donghan's sleeve, "Mind getting off?" 

"Not at all!" Donghan replies cheerfully, standing up and even offering a hand out to Woojin for him to take, which he does gratefully. "Let's all go in!" 

They march in (well, Donghan marches in and Woojin staggers in, rubbing his sore back) and head to the dining room where nothing has changed in the span of the few weeks they were gone. 

"Wait," Donghan says, whipping out his phone, "Let me take a selfie. I'm not letting this moment pass." He walks over to King Eunki and King Jung Jung, squeezing himself in the middle of the two, who are about to kiss. Hyungseob doesn't even want to know how he managed to fit himself inside that tiny gap. "Eunki's going to hate this," Donghan cackles as he snaps a photo, even going so far as to shove a finger up King Eunki's nose. "Best part is, he's not going to remember this." 

"Donghan," Taedong gently lectures, "Come back here, the kid's probably dying to see his parents again." Donghan pouts but complies easily, moving back to Taedong's side.  

"Fine," He breathes grumpily, "Only because you're cute."

"How are we going to sprinkle it on everyone in the castle?" Woojin asks, pulling out the tumbler from the satchel which Seongwoo had passed to him earlier, "We can't pour it on every single person at a time."

"Right, we have to hurry with this," Seongwoo says thoughtfully. "Alright then, Daehwi and I can take the north wing and Donghan and Taedong can take the east wing."

"A surprisingly good plan," Daehwi begins, Seongwoo preening under the unexpected praise, "Coming from you that's rare."  

"Oh shut up," Seongwoo complains, "Is this Burn Seongwoo Day?"  

"It's not considered a burn until someone's crying," Donghan says, inspecting his nails, "Hurry up, will you? I want to tease my brother already."  

Daehwi snatches the tumbler from Woojin. "If you're going to dawdle, I might as well do it." He conjures up three fluffy clouds and sends them on their way to the other three ends of the castle after pouring a healthy amount of the potion into the clouds. He transfers some of it into spray bottles carefully and hands them out to Woojin, Hyungseob, Seongwoo, Donghan and Taedong. 

"Remember what Jonghyun said," Woojin cautions, "Don't spill any on yourselves." 

"Yeah Seongwoo hyung," Daehwi parrots, "Don't spill any on yourself." Seongwoo glares at him but doesn't say anymore, moving to spritz Royal Adviser Jaehwan in the face. 

This proves to be a very bad choice as the most earth-shattering high note is ripped from Royal Adviser Jaehwan's vocal chords, the note reverberating in the air. His middle finger springs free from where Hyungseob had intially tucked it before he'd left to find a way to fix the situation and he shoves it in King Daniel's face. He stops abruptly once he realises that he has an audience. King Daniel is also non-responsive. 

"Who are you?" Royal Advisor Jaehwan says snidely. 

"Prince Hyungseob." Hyungseob replies, "Remember me?" 

"Wasn't your hair supposed to be in an-" Jaehwan makes a vague motion with his hands, "-uh, apple ponytail?"

"I guess it was," Hyungseob says, flattening his hair down with a hand, frowning. "Huh." They go back to unfreezing everyone else, the other four taking their leave, Hyungseob having to lean across the table to unfreeze a grimacing Head Chef Minhyun. At this exact moment, his hand slips and he sprays himself in the face instead. 

His head swims and he sits down on the floor with a thunk. Woojin is by his side in an instant. "Oh my god," He berates, wiping off the excess potion from Hyungseob's cheeks, "I literally just reminded you not to get any on yourself. Are you okay?" It's the most he's said to Hyungseob ever since he lost his memory. At Hyungseob's lack of response, he jumps back, cheeks flaming. "Uh, I'm sorry, it's a -uh- habit," his eyes widen when he sees tears slipping down Hyungseob's cheeks, "Please don't cry." 

"Woojinnie!" Hyungseob leaps at Woojin, holding him down in a tight hug, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I remember everything." 

Woojin slowly winds his hands around Hyungseob's midsection and settles into his tight embrace. "It's fine Seobbie," He coos, rubbing circles into Hyungseob's back, "Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault." 

Hyungseob's lips find Woojin's and they press together in one familiar motion that he's missed so,  _so_ much. 

Two things happen at the same time. 

King Eunki, who had previously been sprayed in the face by Daehwi, finally broke apart from his kiss with King Jung Jung and is staring at Hyungseob kissing Woojin with poorly concealed horror marring his features. He screams at the top of his lungs about debauchery and grabs the front of King Jung Jung's shirt in a fit of hysterics. At the same time, Euiwoong's scream of pain echoes throughout the castle from the dungeons as he finally sinks into the split Justin forced him into. 

"My baby!" Eunki shrieks, pointing an offending finger at Woojin, "This- this rascal has tainted my baby!" 

"Appa!" Hyungseob whines, "I'm nineteen, cut me some slack!" 

"No!" Eunki throws himself at Jung Jung, "Hold me, Jagi, give me some support! Our sweet summer child, ruined in the span of five minutes!" 

"Baobei," King Jung Jung says, "I think you're overreacting. This isn't so serious." 

"The real question is," Eunki screeches, "Why aren't  _you_ overreacting! This is a serious issue! A very dire situation!" 

Hyungseob rolls his eyes. His Appa can be so overdramatic at times. 

"Wait," Eunki says, peering closer at a panicking Woojin, "I know you." 

"You do?" Woojin asks, voice going higher with each word as he struggles to make eye contact. "That's uh, great, I hope it was for something good?" 

Eunki stares, narrowing his eyes at Woojin until his tongue darts out to lick his snaggletooth out of habit. "It doesn't matter!" Eunki says all of a sudden, "You've still tainted my baby!" 

"I'm not particularly sorry for that," Woojin says in a moment of bravery as he reaches out for Hyungseob's hand. "I like Hyungseob." 

"Wait," King Eunki pauses mid-shriek, "You're Park Woojin. Winner of the dance competition I held five years back." Woojin recalls winning with a dance team called "All Back" that involved Noh Taehyun the baker and nods. "You're Sebaohla!" Eunki screams happily, bouncing about. King Jung Jung pats his back, tears of happiness shining in his eyes. "I've found you!" Woojin winces at the mention of his old nickname; it's a memory he doesn't want to relive. The High Council of MNET pestered him to no end for four months after the competition to join their dance team. He rejected them on account of the face that they had failed to invite the two Kings (who had held the dance competition in the first place) to the party that they held. Petty, he knows. 

On second thought, it was better that they hadn't gone, since the High Council of MNET disgraced one Fairy King and reduced countless of Magiks and humans to tears at that party. So maybe his Kings had dodged a bullet by not going. 

"You dance?" Hyungseob's jaw drops in shock. "You never told me!" 

"You never asked!" Woojin protests. 

"Baobei," King Jung Jung says, "He's literally the dancing prodigy of the kingdom." 

"Right!" Eunki motions excitedly to Woojin. "Show him that move that you got famous for!"

Woojin can't exactly refuse a direct order from the King himself, but the hopeful look of anticipation Hyungseob gives him makes him agree, so he begins to do the move, King Jung Jung helpfully supplying the background music. 

"I have found the dancer son that I never had," King Eunki exclaims, wiping a tear away from his eye, "This is a day to remember!"

Hyungseob doesn't know whether to be offended at the sly dig at his dancing abilities or to be happy that Woojin is approved of by both of his parents. He settles for the latter, planting a happy kiss on Woojin's cheek and cooing at him when he smiles shyly at Hyungseob with adoration clear in his dark eyes. King Jung Jung practically melts at the sight of the snaggletooth and moves to cuddle Woojin. 

"You are a squishy of the family now," He announces, "You can never leave." 

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Woojin says brightly, an arm looped around Hyungseob's waist as he pulls him into a one-armed hug. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im dying I watched EXO's KoKoBop encore stage (theres a fancam) and at the start i realised all the artists were gathered which just means inteRACTIONS so i watched it twice, once for exo and once for broduce
> 
> took me a few slow replays to find samuel?? why does his hair have to be the same shade as so many people i cant even anyways he's beside daniel (if you're going to look) and then he chatted with minhyun and daehwi as they were leaving the stage (kind of) put his arm around samuel and samhwi has sudden risen from the depths of the mariana trench
> 
> also taehyun, yongguk, shihyun and hwiseung bopping to kokobop together  
> they met on an mnet program and they reunite because of an mnet program
> 
> greatest unhappiness: minhyun and aron were on the same program but we don't see interactions??? sUNGWOON AND TAEHYUN TOO OK FITE ME THIS FRIENDSHIP IS THE LITERAL BEST THE ENTIRE HOTSHOT WAS THERE LET SUNGWOON GET TEASED BY HIS MEMBERS OKAY LET THEM MEET AND LAUGH TOGETHER MNET FITE ME
> 
> oh but sungwoon cheering exo on and timoteo giving them a hug i love this squad
> 
> i watched a fmv of jinseob and i started to cry i shit you not  
> so i might write another jinseob fic when i finish this chaptered one we're almost done anyway  
> probably going to be another magical au thing


	13. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life has never been better, Hyungseob thinks as he cuddles against Woojin and watches Daehwi and Seongwoo bicker over the last piece of bacon and snorts at Jihoon continuing to proudly show off his necklace from Jinyoung to anyone who'll listen.  
>   
> "Don't you think Seongwoo hyung would have realised that the cat is female by now?" Woojin whispers, "He's tried to steal her so many times you'd think he'd have noticed."

The first thing Samuel expects to see after toilet papering the throne room (again) is probably two angry Kings, one very amused King and one proud Royal Adviser. What he doesn't expect to see, however, is a fairy punching himself in the face. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Just peachy," the other boy grumbles, "I'm completely fine. Just need to adjust to this." He waves a spray bottle in the air and Samuel watches it with amusement. 

"Cool, what's your name? I'm Samuel Arredondo Kim." Samuel sticks his hand out and the boy takes it with zero hesitation. 

"Lee Daehwi. I'm the Fairy Prince, we live in the Forest." There's a sudden cold sensation tickling Samuel's palm and he gently pulls away from the handshake. Nothing's wrong with his palm, so his eyes travel slowly to Daehwi's hand fearing the worst. "Woah, that's so  _cool_!" (pun unintended) He sticks a finger in the frostfire flame that Daehwi has produced. "Can all fairies do this?" 

"No, just me." Daehwi says and he winks. "Wink wonk."

Samuel's slightly taken aback but he winks back. "Wink wonk at you too, Daehwi." He laughs heartily, bending over to slap his knee. "I think I'm going to have to keep you around for a long time." Having calmed down from his laughing fit, he slowly takes in the sight of a sweetly smiling Daehwi. He gulps, stomach jittery all of a sudden as he feels his palms grow clammy. Oh dear. He's developing a crush. 

The doors to the throne room fly open just then and Daehwi moves to stand in front of Samuel protectively. "If I die by the hands of King Eunki today protecting you," he tells Samuel bravely, "Tell Woojin I've hated him a little less than all the others!" King Youngmin and King Donghyun prance in together, holding hands. Daehwi drops the hands he's holding out in front of him to fly at his parents, wrapping them into a hug. "Ah, I've missed you both so much!" 

"Us too," King Donghyun laughs, ruffling Daehwi's hair, "It's been what, two days?" 

"Way more than that for me!" Daehwi whines, leaning into his parents' affectionate touches. "Ah, I've just made a new friend! His name is Samuel! Muellie, come over here, meet my parents!" 

Isn't this progressing a little too fast in their relationship? They literally met 5 minutes ago and now he's meeting Daehwi's parents? Samuel feels his throat drying up as he takes a few steps forward. "Hello, my name is Samuel. I'm 15 this year." 

King Youngmin and King Donghyun exchange all-too-knowing looks. "Daehwi's 16! You both will get along just fine!" King Youngmin laughs, showing off a perfect smile of teeth. "Have fun, Daehwi! We'll meet you back at home for dinner." 

"Help me tell Gunhee not to attack Seongwoo the witch anymore, please. He's a changed man." Daehwi says solemnly, "It's probably safer for our health if we scale down the prank war." 

 

* * * * *

 

"Hey Dad," Samuel asks King Daniel over dinner that night back at their own Kingdom, "Hypothetically speaking, how politically advantageous would it be for our Kingdom if there was an arranged marriage between me and a Fairy Prince?" 

"Probably more advantageous than you marrying Prince Hyungseob, why?" Daniel narrows his eyes. "What's going on? You literally told me not too long ago that you had zero interest in marrying anyone." 

Royal Advisor Jaehwan harrumphs. "King Daniel, may I say that your broad shoulders definitely make up for your common sense?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel splutters, dropping his fork. "I'm very logical!" 

Jaehwan sniggers. "Sure, sure, if you're speaking sarcastically." He chews daintily on a piece of beef. "An arranged marriage between these two species would be good indeed," he says to Samuel, "Why don't you draw up a chart? For, ah, future reference." 

The cogs in Daniel's brain begin to turn. Huh, maybe it is a good idea. 

Somewhere deep within the Forest, Daehwi, too, is trying to convince his parents that an arranged marriage between Samuel and himself is the best course of action for both their kingdoms. 

"Just think about it!" Daehwi exclaims, "Theoretically, it would be laughing in the High Council of MNET's face! What a great hypothetical situation that is too good to be hypothetical!" 

"I don't know why he's so eager to get married," King Youngmin mutters to King Donghyun, "He literally told us that he'd burn the face off of anyone we tried to set him up with right before we left on our trip." 

 

* * * * * 

 

It's a little lonely in his newly constructed and furnished home without the noise of the other three kids, Seongwoo supposes it's time to get a companion. He heads to the nearest kingdom and begins to look for a cat, specifically one with white socks. However, no matter how much he looks, he cannot seem to find one. Well. Time to resort to stealing. 

And this is how he ends up sitting on the floor of Woojin and Hyungseob's shared bedroom in Hyungseob's castle, learning how to be a good thief from Woojin. "I don't know why I agreed to this," Woojin sighs, "I promised Hyungseob I'd leave behind the life of crime." 

"I'm not asking you to steal," Seongwoo sniffs, "I'm asking you to  _teach_ me. There's technically a difference."

"Okay, okay, fine," Woojin holds his hands up in surrender. "What do you want to steal anyway?" 

Seongwoo takes a deep breath and looks Woojin in the eye. "A cat." 

Woojin bursts out laughing. "Can't you, I don't know,  _buy_ one?" 

"No, there's this particular cat I want! He lives in this big, big castle that's got to be so lonely for him, and he's got this little white bowtie and socks and he's the cutest thing I've ever seen! I just have to have him, no questions asked!" Seongwoo leans forward, eyes wide. "Will you help me or not?" 

"I'll help on account of our friendship," Woojin grins, "Just don't blame me if your heist is unsuccessful." 

"Good, what's the first thing I have to learn? Ninja skills? How to murder?" Seongwoo bounces about, pulling out a samurai sword out of nowhere and brandishes it at Woojin who takes a step back.

"How to stay quiet," He deadpans, "Difficult, I know." He circles Seongwoo and inspects him from head to toe. "The first rule about the art of thievery is subtlety and distraction. Don't let your victim know what's going to hit them. Like this." Woojin proudly displays Seongwoo's left shoe. 

Seongwoo stares down at his socked foot and blinks. "How did you do that? I could've sworn I was wearing it- hey did you take my right sock too?" Woojin grins and tucks Seongwoo's sock into his left shoe. He hands them both back to him. 

"Here, you should practice. Then you can head on over and steal a cat. But if you get yourself in trouble, I'm disowning you as a friend because Hyungseob can't deal with wars." Woojin waves as he takes his leave. "I have to go and help Hyungseob with the gardening, good luck, Seongwoo!" 

Seongwoo glares at his shoe and decides that practice just isn't worth it. This is how he finds himself holed up in a cupboard in the castle near his house, waiting for the occupants to leave for a fancy royal dinner. He's got the cat that he wants clutched between his hands and he briefly marvels at how soft its fur is. His train of thought is broken by the soft pattering of feet on the carpeted floor. Seongwoo pinches his lips together and tries not a make a sound, casting a quick spell to muffle the cries of the cat. 

"Rooney? Where'd you go?" A voice calls out and the ginger cat in his arms wriggles at the sound of its name. 

"Hush kitty," Seongwoo hisses, "Stay." 

"Oh dear, guess Rooney's stuck somewhere again." There's a dejected sigh and Seongwoo grins in victory. Maybe that guy will leave and he can return to his hut with his new familiar which is apparently called Rooney. 

"Don't worry King Daniel," A voice that's all too familiar replies, "Muellie and I will find Rooney for you. Ginger with white paws and a white bowtie, right?" 

Daehwi, King Daniel (probably Prince Samuel too) are most likely to be somewhere further down the hall, so Seongwoo decides that the best course of action would be to make a run for it now. 

He rolls out of the cupboard door and lands on all fours. He exhales slowly. Woojin said stealth matters; he can do this. He is the epitome of stealth and subtlety. (If Woojin were here and heard his internal monologue, he would have laughed.) Gripping Rooney tightly to his chest, he creeps out on tiptoes into the hallway and stop suddenly, staring straight at the party of three moving in his direction. 

Daehwi too halts in his movements and raises an eyebrow surreptiously he lays his eyes on Seongwoo's ridiculous position. The eyebrow inches higher when Rooney crawls out of Seongwoo's jacket and he begins to giggle. Seongwoo shushes him loudly, voice carrying across the hallway. He quickly realises his mistake, to heck be this mission anyway, stands up straight and releases Rooney as King Daniel and Prince Samuel both turn to him with mirroring looks of confusion. Stealth? Don't know her.

"Rooney!" Daniel croons, picking up his pet cat, "I've found you!" He walks over to Seongwoo and gives him a big hug. "Thank you for finding my Rooney!" 

"Ah, King Daniel, I don't think-" 

"Keep quiet, Daehwi, I believe this man was bringing back my Rooney to me." King Daniel smiles at Seongwoo brightly, eyes disappearing. "A godsend." 

Seongwoo's a little more flattered than he'd like to admit, and a little starstruck. He remembers the way King Daniel's body fit so perfectly around him and how cuddly the younger man is. "Oh?" Seongwoo cups a hand around his ear. "I think I hear Woojin calling. Got to go!" He hightails it out of there before he can fall even deeper for King Daniel's charms. His laughter echoes in his ears, giving rise to a flush in his cheeks. How can a human being other than himself be so effortlessly perfect?

"How funny that man is," Daniel smiles, "Daehwi, do you know him?" 

"Unfortunately, yes, why?" Daehwi reaches for Samuel's arm and squeezes it, sharing a secretive smile with him.

"Just thought that it would be nice to get to know him. It doesn't matter," King Daniel sounds just the tiniest bit remorseful, "I may never see him again." 

Rooney winds herself around Daniel's legs, rubbing against his jeans, purring loudly. Daehwi stares at her. "I think otherwise, King Daniel." 

"Wanna bet on that?" Royal Advisor Jaehwan says, swinging upside down from the giant chandelier above them. He hops down less than gracefully, landing a little awkwardly on his left leg, but he draws himself up to his full height nonetheless and dusts himself off. "If you want to come along, you're going to have to pay. Make a bet." 

King Daniel pinches the bridge of his nose. "Jaehwan," He grits out, "We are not betting on my love life." 

" _We are not betting on my love life,_ " Jaehwan mimics poorly, waving his hands in an exaggerated display of fear. He rolls his eyes. "As if. This is a prime opportunity and I'm not giving it up." 

"I should have kicked you out when I had the chance," Daniel groans, "Why are we still friends?" 

"Without me, you'd be nothing." Jaehwan cackles. "Now, 10 dollars saying that he'll meet that guy again a week later." 

Daehwi smirks. It's not a good look on him. "Fine. 15 dollars saying that that guy will be back tomorrow and they'll meet right here in this exact corridor." Daniel gives up on persuading them not to have a betting pool on when he'll meet Seongwoo again and leaves with Rooney cradled in his arms. Maybe he'll give Rooney a tiny treat for allowing him to meet the most beautiful man on Earth. As a token of his appreciation.

"It's a deal." Jaehwan and Daehwi shake on it. Daehwi knows he's going to be 10 dollars richer by tomorrow. Seongwoo's idiocy never disappoints; maybe he'll take his winnings and go out for milkshakes with Samuel? The possibilities are endless. 

 

* * * * *

 

"Woojinnie?" Woojin opens his eyes to see Hyungseob hovering over him expectantly. He yawns and stretches, rubbing his stomach as he tries to figure out what's going on. "I've got breakfast for you! I made it myself, Head Chef Minhyun helped a little!" He excitedly hands Woojin a fork and shoves a plate of eggs in his face. "Chef Minhyun taught me how to make an omelette!" 

Woojin picks up the fork and stabs it into the omelette, bringing up a bite-sized piece into his mouth and chews. He chokes, but swallows the egg anyway. It tastes slightly burnt and is too salty and too dry. As he chews the second bite, it's crunchy and even Woojin knows that eggshells don't go into omelettes. He coughs and reaches for the orange juice. 

"Is it that bad?" Hyungseob asks, looking worried and slightly insecure. "I knew I wasn't that good at cooking, I'm sorry Woojinnie!" 

"It's not bad," Woojin is quick to correct Hyungseob, "Just hot. I might have burned my mouth in my haste to eat it." He shovels another forkful of egg into his mouth. "See? I love it so much."

"Thanks Woojinnie," Hyungseob leans forward to peck Woojin on the cheek and snuggle into his chest, "You're the best. What did I ever do to deserve you?" 

"You did sacrifice your happiness to save your kingdom," Woojin points out, gulping down the orange juice. "By the way, don't ever do that again. Those were like, the darkest times of my life." 

Hyungseob looks down sheepishly. "I don't think we'll find ourselves in that situation again." He picks up Woojin's planner and flips idly through it, stopping at the page for today. "Oh, we have to meet Jinyoung in about an hour." Hyungseob squints at the page. "He says not to bring Seongwoo because all he's seen for the past few days is a whiny, lovesick Seongwoo." 

"Oh, I heard about that. He's apparently tried to steal King Daniel's cat Rooney for the umpteenth time this week." Woojin comments. "Word travels fast in these areas. It's almost as if Taehyun hyung has nothing better to do than to gossip with Sungwoon hyung." 

Hyungseob hums. "Speaking of Taehyun and Sungwoon hyung, should we bring pastries? Daehwi's going to try to one-up us again with his flashy magic, and Taehyun hyung's doughnuts are undefeated in the entire world. We might stand a chance this time." 

"Want some honey bread while we're grabbing the doughnuts? We might as well," Woojin asks, already stumbling into the bathroom to brush his teeth. "You used to love them." 

"I still do," Hyungseob sighs happily, already thinking about the sweet warmth of the loaf of honey bread fresh out of the oven. "It's almost as sweet as you!" 

"Only for you," Woojin calls back, shrugging off his pyjamas top and pulling on a fresh shirt. This particular one was gifted to him by Hyungseob and it's his favourite to wear. "Hyungseob, have you cleaned up yet?" 

"I washed up while waiting for you," he says, bouncing on the bed. "Come on, let's head to the bakery! Guanlin and Seonho actually said that they wanted to tag along to our outing and you know I can't refuse those hopeful stares, so let's hurry." 

"Okay," Woojin laughs, eyes crinkling and his snaggletooth on full display as he lets himself be dragged out to the bakery in town. 

 

* * * * *

 

"Woojin!" Taehyun greets as they walk into the bakery together. "Fancy seeing you coming in from the front door instead of the back door like usual!" He's glazing his doughnuts with a certain flair that only he has, mixing colours and adding sprinkles where they need to be. "Want some honey bread? They're fresh out of the oven!" 

"Thank you!" Woojin replies cheerfully, grabbing one of the woven baskets at the side and adding in a few steaming loaves of honey bread. "Hyungseob, could you get the doughnuts?" 

Hyungseob nods and speeds towards the counter where Taehyun is packing a dozen doughnuts into a box for him. "Thank you Taehyun-ssi," Hyungseob bows his head, dropping a few gold coins on the counter for him, "I really appreciate this." He picks up the doughnuts and places them into the woven basket. "Seonho will bring this basket back tomorrow for you!" 

Taehyun's expression darkens. "Uh, not that I have anything against the kid but," he sneaks a glance at Seonho, "He eats all my pizza rolls everytime he comes over. Is he always this hungry?" 

"I'm afraid so," Woojin cuts in, "Seonho has a bottomless pit for a stomach." 

Taehyun turns his attention to the gold coins on the counter, picking up one and moving to return the rest to Woojin and Hyungseob. "Take this; I don't need it. You're paying too much for your pastries." 

"Taehyun-ssi, take it as payment for the previous times Woojin got me honey bread without paying a single cent," Hyungseob objects, closing Taehyun's palm and pushing it towards him.

"In that case," Taehyun grins, "Hyung is fine. Call me Taehyun hyung." Something occurs to him and he turns to Woojin with a strange expression. "Hey, recently, did you know that King Eunki's trying to revive All Back? Apparently, he's trying to join." 

Woojin groans. "Yongbin hyung's out of town, actually. I don't think we'll be making a comeback at least until he's back." 

"When that happens, may I join? Please?" Hyungseob turns pleading puppy eyes on Woojin and his heart is so, so weak. 

"Sure," Woojin says with zero hesitation, "I'll teach you your dances." 

Taehyun hyung chuckles. "Whipped. Take your pastries and go, don't want them getting cold!" He turns and begins to chase Guanlin away from the glitter sprinkles while simultaneously trying to stop Seonho from eating anything other than the pizza rolls. Hyungseob and Woojin leave hand in hand, fingers intertwined as they walk down the path and into the forest to Jinyoung's house.

 

* * * * *

 

"So that's where my handkerchief went," is the first thing Hyungseob says when he sees Jinyoung. He plucks the piece of cloth from Jinyoung's shirt pocket and swiftly tucks it back into his pocket. "I've been looking for it." 

"I've missed you too, Hyungseob," Jinyoung rolls his eyes. "Daehwi! Jihoon hyung! Come and help Hyungseob and Woojin with the food!" There is an answering moan and Jinyoung pauses. "Not you, Seongwoo hyung, you can keep moping." He leans in close to add in an explanatory manner, "He met the love of his life but he can't decide if he should get a boyfriend or a cat." 

"I hope for his sake that he gets a boyfriend," Daehwi interjects as he grabs the doughnuts from Hyungseob, "Or he'll die old and lonely and he'll probably leech off us, the only friends he's got." He turns and heads inside the house. "Jihoon! Come and eat the doughnuts before I throw them at you!" 

Jihoon stumbles out, the cord of his moonbeam necklace tangled in his light brown locks. "Come on in," He tells Woojin and Hyungseob, guiding them in. "Have you seen my moonbeam necklace? It's got Jinyoungie's heartbeat in it." 

Jinyoung flushes a pretty pink. "Come on, Jihoonie, they were there when I made it." 

"Pink's my favourite colour, but it's even better when it's on you," Jihoon coos at Jinyoung, pinching his cheeks. "Jinyoungie made bacon for us all," Jihoon informs them happily. "I think there isn't much left, though, Daehwi and Seongwoo apparently love bacon." 

They take seats around the table and begin to catch up, Jinyoung worriedly eyeing the pile of dirty dishes and reminiscing about the last time he'd had people over for a meal.

 Life has never been better, Hyungseob thinks as he cuddles against Woojin and watches Daehwi and Seongwoo bicker over the last piece of bacon and snorts at Jihoon continuing to proudly show off his necklace from Jinyoung to anyone who'll listen. Seongwoo complains loudly about his predicament and Daehwi laughs at him.

"Don't you think Seongwoo hyung would have realised that the cat is female by now?" Woojin whispers, "He's tried to steal her so many times you'd think he'd have noticed."

"Seongwoo's naturally oblivious to tiny things like these," Hyungseob replies softly, "It's just how he is." He tunes into the debate the other four are having on the true effects of a reversal potion and joins in, citing himself as a prime example of its effects. Woojin's arm bumps into his and they slot their fingers together, the heat radiating off Woojin's palm calm and soothing. 

 

* * * * * 

 

"Daehwi's out with his friends again," King Youngmin casually tells King Donghyun. He combs a hand through the younger King's light brown locks. "I was surprised when he first told me, it's nice to know he has some interspecies friends." 

"And an interspecies boyfriend," King Donghyun sighs. "I have nothing against that, I just miss seeing Daehwi at every second of the day." 

"Aw, you're jealous," Youngmin bops Donghyun on the nose. "Don't worry, you have me. I'm always here for you." He beckons to his husband. "Come here, let me give you a kiss." Donghyun complies, sitting up straighter. They kiss languidly and sit there under a tree in the forest, idly spending time in each other's presence. 

"Is it too early to go on a trip to visit our friends?" King Donghyun asks after a few beats of silence. "I feel like our royalty is only for commercial purposes. We don't really run anything in the Kingdom." 

"We make sure there aren't any murders and that's good enough. God only knows how much Kenta has thought about killing Gunhee by now." Youngmin laughs, the mere thought of an irate Kenta bringing a full smile to his cheeks. "Besides, the people love us as royalty. We're nice people and good representatives of Fairykind." 

"Well," King Donghyun adds, "I can only hope Daehwi will turn out fine in the end. He's clingy to people he loves but sassy to people he barely knows. Can you imagine the havoc he would wreck the minute he's old enough to attend a MNET Council meeting?" 

"Nothing compared to Yoon Jisung," Youngmin sighs, "If it were not for our friendship, I would have fired him as Daehwi's teacher ages ago; maybe even put him in charge of torture. But he's still our friend and continues to influence our baby to follow his savage ways." 

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Daehwi says hotly, walking over to his parents. "Hi Dads, I'm back. How was the previous trip? You never managed to tell me." 

King Donghyun's eyes light up at the thought of their trip, pleasant memories of the time spent with Youngmin flooding his mind. He recalls tearing into every single type of bread with Youngmin, shopping for couple items with Youngmin and finally watching the sun disappear beyond the horizon on their first night of the trip. If"Oh, Daehwi, it was wonderful! We'll bring you with us one day, I promise! The town is so different from the Glen and the people are so nice!" He laughs giddily. "I saw so many animals, they were so cute! I saw one that looks like your Dad too!" 

"No Donghyunnie, please-" 

"It's an alpaca!" Donghyun claps his hands in delight. "Cute and fluffy! But they will spit on you, if you anger them." 

Daehwi beams at his parents. "I see the similarity. Oh, Jihoon told me to give you these. He baked some muffins and told me to bring some back. There's frosting if you want to decorate." He pulls out some vanilla and chocolate muffins as well as piping bags with colourful frosting in them. King Youngmin picks one up and mischievously squeezes a dollop of icing onto Donghyun's cheek. He squeals and backpedals away. 

"Youngminnie!" He gasps, "Now my cheek's dirty!" 

"No it isn't." Youngmin daringly licks the icing clean of Donghyun's cheek and hums in appreciation. "Sugary-sweet, just how I like it." 

"You two are disgustingly sweet," Daehwi gags at his parents' antics. If there's one thing that's envied about the dynamic between Donghyun and Youngmin, it's that they've long mastered the art of communication without having to verbally say anything. They exchange a single look and pick up piping bags and smush frosting onto Daehwi's face and hair. 

Daehwi screams in horror and rolls backwards, setting fire to the grass. Kenta, already used to fires near the Fairy Glen, calmly appears with a pitcher of water to put the fire out and leaves after accomplishing his task. The entire Fairy Kingdom have seen enough of the royal family acting like children that it doesn't faze them anymore. Sometimes, they'll even join in. 

Gunhee walks over to Daehwi and hands him some sprinkles and a huge bag of edible glitter. He winks and moves off to tend to the tomatoes growing in the tiny farm they have hidden somewhere in the forest. Now armed with sprinkles, Daehwi lauches himself at King Youngmin and King Donghyun, commencing the first food fight they've ever had. 

At the end of the day, the victory belongs to King Youngmin, who had ended up teaming with Daehwi to cover King Donghyun in glitter until he conceded and then turned on Daehwi with the remaining frosting. The prize? The plain muffins, which he shares with both Donghyun and Daehwi anyway, because he loves his family to bits. 

Somewhere, hidden amongst the trees, Kenta turns to the gathered fairies with a victorious smirk on his face. "I told you all King Youngmin's the real mastermind; now pay up, bitches!" 

 

* * * * * 

 

"Alright, at first I thought you were just conveniently where Rooney was all the time, but it's kind of obvious that you're trying to steal her now." Daniel deadpans, his hands resting on his hips as he stares at Seongwoo who's trying to tiptoe out of his bedroom. It's obviously not working. "Can I have her back now?" 

Seongwoo peers down at Rooney who meows nonchalantly at him. "No."

"No?" Daniel raises both eyebrows, taken aback. 

"I want a cat. I'm lonely," Seongwoo explains, scratching the nape of his neck nervously. "Rooney's the only cat that hasn't tried to scratch me yet." 

"If I go and get you a cat that you'll like more than Rooney, will you stop trying to steal her? I promise not all cats are aggressive." Daniel reasons, trying to reach for Rooney. Seongwoo thinks about it for a minute and hands the cat back. 

"I'll stop trying to steal Rooney then." Seongwoo seems to change his mind and opens his mouth to speak again. "But I won't stop coming back." 

"For Rooney?" 

"No," Seongwoo looks Daniel straight in the eye. "For you. But only because you're cute."

"Oh," Daniel blushes and Samuel giggles silently into Daehwi's collarbone where they're huddled in Daniel's cupboard amongst his jerseys. He can hear the embarrassment colouring his father's voice. Daehwi rolls his eyes at Seongwoo's bravery but smiles, happy that he finally found the confidence in himself to confess. Or something like a confession anyway. "Okay. We have to pick out a cat for you still. I don't think I'm interesting enough to make sure you aren't lonely." 

Seongwoo clears his throat. "Okay, tomorrow, at noon? By the drawbridge? We'll go find me a cat."  _And a boyfriend, hopefully._

"Yeah," Daniel squeaks, flustered. He buries half of his face in Rooney's fur and shifts her to his other arm. 

"Great," Seongwoo nods in satisfaction. "It's a date." 

"Y-yeah, a date." Daniel repeats. He mentally beats himself up for stuttering and losing his composure,  _Kang Daniel, you've stared down an angry suitor before do not go red do not flee do not flee-_

Seongwoo leans in and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek. It's nothing much, just a simple press of lips on cheek, but it's enough for Daniel to completely lose his cool and run out of the room squealing like a teenage girl, dropping a disgruntled Rooney in the process. 

Seongwoo simply laughs and takes his leave, smiling triumphantly but refusing to say a word when Hyungseob asks him what's got him so happy. He's got a date!

Little does he know, Hyungseob already knows what's up. "He thinks he's good at hiding things from me!" He cackles, feeding Woojin a starberry, "But I know that look! It's the one I had before we started dating! It's what I like to call, 'in love' !" 

Woojin is silent. "You're in love with me?" 

"Woojinnie, we're getting married next month." Hyungseob rolls his eyes. "There would be something really wrong if I weren't in love with you." 

"Yeah, but, you know, is it like-like? Or love?" Woojin objects. "It's better to be sure, Seobbie. That you love me as much as I love you." 

Hyungseob feeds him another starberry. "Woojinnie, I love you very much." He leans over and kisses Woojin, tasting the sweetness of the starberry on his tongue as he pulls over. "And I always will. In fact I think I love you more." 

Woojin's eyes narrow. "You can't! I love you more!" 

"No, I clearly do." 

"No, I do!" 

"I do! You're saved in my heart!" 

A pause. "Don't use Jihoon's aegyo on me, Seobbie, that's weird! I love you most and that's final!" 

"Fine," Hyungseob laughs happily, amazed at how perfectly his life had turned out, "I'll happily get smothered by your love. Bring it on." 

 

 

_**THE END** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a wild ride, but it was fun while it lasted. i made friends over the course of this fic to whom im so grateful to and it's been so fun, i can't wait to embark on my next thing which hopefully will have a fixed POV and not interchange in the middle of the paragraphs like i've done in this whoops anyways i hope you look forward to my next work (already planning it lolol) but till then, daelighthwi nyoom nyyom awaay


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